sports Former four-star recruit Miranda transfers to OSU

Parker Gerl Staff Reporter

The Cowboys have added a 7-footer via the transfer portal. North Carolina State transfer Isaiah Miranda has committed to OSU, it was announced Sunday morning by Joe Tipton of On3. His time with the Wolfpack was brief, as he arrived at NC State for this past season’s spring semester before opting to enter the NBA Draft and transfer portal. After taking his name out of the draft, the big man was on the open market. Miranda had previous ties to the Cowboys and coach Mike Boynton, as he received an offer from OSU in July 2021. Although he’s yet to play in a college game, Miranda is still viewed as a talented big man. In high school, he displayed high-level athleticism, finishing around the rim and an ability to knock down perimeter shots in spurts. He was ranked as the No. 55 overall recruit by ESPN and No. 30 by Rivals. In his senior season at Springfield Commonwealth Academy, he averaged 20 points and 12 rebounds per game. sports.ed@ocolly.com

247 Sports had Miranda tabbed as a four-star transfer, and he received high interest from Alabama and Kentucky when he first entered the portal before choosing the Cowboys.

Miranda slots into an OSU frontcourt alongside Jacksonville transfer Mike Marsh and McDonald’s All-American Brandon Garrison and will likely be a big part of Boynton’s lineups and rotations. He’s Boynton’s fourth get from the portal, joining Marsh, East Carolina guard Javon Small and North Florida guard Jarius Hicklen.

“They got on a roll... and you saw the rest of it,” Utah coach Amy Hogue said. The next three innings were quiet for both offenses, but nothing else was needed; the eight-run lead was enough to end the game early after Utah’s fifth scoreless inning. The Utes’ lack of offensive production was due to Kilfoyl’s dominance in the circle.

Kilfoyl started in the circle of a Women’s College World Series game for the first time since June 2021, when she was a sophomore at Alabama. No stretch may have been more impressive than Kilfoy’s outing in the top of the fifth, where Utah had two runners in scoring position with no outs, putting the Cowgirls’ run-rule in jeopardy. Her response?

Turning the next three Ute batters into outs, promptly ending their season. The first out wasn’t because of Kilfoyl’s arm, but her hands, where she caught a ball that fired toward the circle, showcasing her quick, twitchy reflexes.

Practice makes perfect, it seems, as Kilfoyl said postgame that fielding drills are her favorites in practice.

“I definitely take pride in my fielding; that’s one of my favorite things to do at practice, actually,” Kilfoyl said.

“Even from a young age, on my travel ball teams, I would play first base all the time, so... I think that has definitely helped me today.”

OSU gets a day off before facing the loser of Oklahoma-Tennessee on Sunday night. Either way, the Cowgirls will face a high-level offense, but until then, they’ll look to keep their offense at a high level as well.

“We’re built to move on in this,” Gajewski said. This team will celebrate this win; we’ll wake up tomorrow and celebrate this win.” sports.ed@ocolly.com