Chandler Prater explains her transfer from Kansas women’s basketball to Oklahoma State
KANSAS CITY — A little more than six months ago, Chandler Prater stood on the court with a microphone in her hand inside Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence.
Prater, moments after helping Kansas women’s basketball win the 2023 Postseason WNIT title, looked out at the fans cheering around her. She thanked the crowd, the largest to see her team play inside Allen Fieldhouse since the 2009 WNIT title game, and told those in attendance that they were the difference in the tournament. It was a speech that helped set the expectations for increased fan support for the 2023-24 campaign, with Prater and more from that Kansas squad set to return.
But, when Prater was in Kansas City on Tuesday to talk about the upcoming season, she wasn’t representing the Jayhawks during Big 12 Conference media days. Prater had elected to transfer after the season ended. She was now with Oklahoma State.
“I feel like it was definitely hard on them to see me go, and I mean it was really just a weird — I’ve never experienced anything like that,” said Prater, a senior guard. “It’s like saying goodbye to a family, but like see you later. But we’re going to have to see each other next year and play against each other. So, it was like a really kind of pulling at your heartstrings type of process.”
Prater explained that while there are athletes who probably know they’re going to transfer before the season ends, that wasn’t her situation. She was enjoying the success at Kansas. It wasn’t until after the season, from her perspective, that this became something she’d consider.
The departure of Terry Nooner, who was the Jayhawks’ associate head coach last season, played a significant role in Prater’s mind. She and Nooner, who took the head coaching job at Wichita State, were close.
With him gone, she started to think about her future. Among the many things she thought about, she felt that she was leaving Kansas in a better place than she’d found it.
Prater wanted to set out for somewhere she could develop her game more. And, while she didn’t mention playing time, it’s unclear what her role would have been with the roster her old program assembled.
At Oklahoma State, there was a coaching staff with familiar faces like associate head coach Jhasmin Player — previously an assistant at KU during Prater’s time there. OSU’s head coach, Jacie Hoyt, recruited Prater when Hoyt was an assistant coach at Kansas State, too.
It was a pleasant surprise, Hoyt said, to see Prater in the transfer portal. Hoyt always loved Prater’s energy and high motor, which made Prater someone she hated competing against but a player who’d be a perfect fit for her team. The relationships between Prater and the Oklahoma State coaching staff were the biggest part of why she chose them, Hoyt thinks, in addition to their pitch on the team’s culture, what her role would be and how she would develop on and off the court.
“It’s funny because I told Jacie no first,” said Prater, much to the shock of a teammate sitting next to her. “… She had reached out, and you know schools are reaching out over Instagram, over email, over all types of ways, and I still have the text messages. I was like, ‘Unfortunately, I’m not really interested.’ I was like, ‘Thank you, coach.’ And she was like, ‘No, I’ve got a plan for you. You’re going to do this.’ So, yeah, so I mean she got me on the phone and obviously the lady has a mouthpiece. So, it was really cool just kind of like rediscovering that.”
Oklahoma State is coming off a season in which it finished 21-12 and advanced to the NCAA tournament. Prater has confidence in how competitive she and her new team can be together. In the preseason coaches poll, OSU was picked to finish seventh — with KU a little ahead in third.
There’ll be an opportunity for those two sides to go up against each other on Jan. 13 in Lawrence, the only game between the two during the regular season. Overall, though, her goals for the season encompass more than just one game.
“I hope for us to continuously get better the entire year, like just continue building and continue trusting and enjoying that process,” Prater said. “And ultimately end up in a championship.”
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Chandler Prater explains leaving Kansas women’s basketball for OSU
