WEST LAFAYETTE — The decision to enter the transfer portal was a grueling one for Purdue women’s basketball forward Averi Aaron to make.
After two years at Louisiana Tech, the junior weighed through all of her options. Not typically one to want to jump ship, especially from the place that gave her an opportunity as a recruit, frustrations with her role constantly changing and negative relationships built up over time.
She asked herself, “If next year went exactly like this year went, would I be happy with that?”
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True to her mind, the answer was no. Aaron decided to test her luck with the portal on the morning of Monday, April 13. What followed was a hectic couple of days; her phone rang so often with calls that she couldn’t even cook a meal without it buzzing. But the rapidness of the process allowed it to be over in less than a week.
The day after a visit to West Lafayette, Aaron made her commitment to the Boilermakers on Saturday, April 18. She was slated to take a visit to Pitt afterwards, but the Purdue coaching staff made an immediate impression on her that made the program an obvious next step.
“I just felt like I had a good relationship with them, and that was probably the number one thing I was looking for,” Aaron told the Journal & Courier in an interview Oct. 6. “Once I feel good, I feel like it’s comfortable and I feel like that’s my fit, I don’t need to do anything else.”
Aaron was the first commit to Purdue’s transfer portal class for the 2026-27 season, and is expected to play a focal point of the rotation this season at the power forward position. With her 6-foot-1 frame she has the ability to run at center as well, and she’s molded herself as a physical player throughout college that doesn’t mind doing the dirty work.
From the very start of her playing career, basketball has been the obvious path to Aaron. But it wasn’t the immediate choice.
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Finding her calling
Growing up in Boerne, Texas, about 30 minutes north of San Antonio, the first introduction to sports for Aaron was soccer, not basketball.
Starting at 4-years-old, she became a good player in her own right playing up to middle school. But her school at the time didn’t offer a girls soccer team, only volleyball and basketball. She took up basketball in sixth grade at a local YMCA league while playing soccer in a different league, but decided to go with only basketball at her school in seventh grade. Both sports took place during the same time, so she had to choose one eventually.
As a young kid, playing soccer at the college level was her dream. But after she traded a soccer ball for a basketball, she not only enjoyed it more, but felt it came naturally. Instead of sticking to one role like in soccer or football, she could play both offense and defense.
The biggest adjustment Aaron had to make was keeping her physicality in check. Used to being able to slide tackle and put her hands on opponents, staying in the game was difficult at times.
“I’ve always been overly aggressive … that’s my personality and how I was raised,” Aaron said. “I actually used to foul out of every game for the first like two years because it was such an adjustment. … Once I kind of reigned it in, it was very useful for sure.”
Aaron had two parents with plenty of basketball experience. Her mom, Holly Aaron, also played college hoops, but at Texas State. Her dad, John Aaron, was a basketball player in high school and ran cross country at Schreiner University. That background helped encourage her to pick up the basketball, too.
She attributes much of her growth to her parents. Whether it was practice, games or tournaments hours away, they made sure she always got there. If she needed to be better, they weren’t afraid to tell her to do so.
“They always kind of pushed me,” Aaron said. “They were like if you want to be the best, you’re going to have to do this. … I wouldn’t say they were hard on me, but my family is just very competitive and very honest.”
Once she got into high school, the signs of playing at the next level immediately showed. She tallied 2,353 points and 1,438 rebounds by the end of her time there, and helped lead Boerne High School to three state semifinals — a school that hadn't been to the tournament in 13 years beforehand. She was also selected to the TABC (Texas Association of Basketball Coaches) and TGCA (Texas Girls Coaches Association) All-State teams in all four seasons.
Aaron’s blossom as a high school basketball player coincided with the rise of women’s basketball in college sports. The likes of Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers all became huge names and draws to the sport, which helped grow the support Boerne had as it was improving.
The Texas girls basketball scene was filled with talent that Aaron became a part of. During one of her AAU seasons she played with Ashlon Jackson, who went on to play four years at Duke and was drafted to the Connecticut Sun in the 2026 WNBA Draft. NaLyssa Smith of the Las Vegas Aces was also an alum of her club team, who came back on multiple occasions to practice with them.
Being around that talent laid the foundation for Aaron to get to that level at Louisiana Tech. No specific player became a role model, but the entire experience helped her find her identity.
“I wouldn’t say I modeled my game after anybody,” Aaron said, “it was just seeing other people that are at the level I’m at, what their game looks like, what they physically look like. For me, I was like ‘Okay, this is the blueprint of what I need to be doing,’ and then just kind of be myself within that.”
Becoming a Boilermaker
One might call Aaron the Boilermakers' “enforcer” this season.
That doesn’t mean she’s going to put herself into fights, but being a hard-nosed defender is part of the identity she built over the years. Since practices have started, she’s already shown that to her teammates.
“She works super hard … and she has a really high IQ,” center Avery Gordon said. “What someone would consider a side disadvantage in her height, she finds a way to use it as an advantage. She’s super strong.”
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The competitiveness and aggressiveness Aaron self-describes of possessing isn’t hard to notice. Even against larger and taller women, she holds her own going up for a shot or grabbing a board.
Growing up around brothers, they were taught to never start fights, but to finish it if someone’s trying to "punk" them. And when she has physical contact in the paint, she’s not going to get punked either.
Without fouling as much as she did in middle and high school, of course.
“I would say I’ve definitely gotten pretty good at not going in that direction,” Aaron said. “I wouldn't say I seek out contact, but I kind of do. It doesn’t really bother me that much, and I feel like if I can initiate contact, then I’m going to win because I’m just going to be more physically dominant.”
Aaron has come a long way from Texas and Louisiana to Indiana. Being independent, probably against the wishes of her mom, has helped her adjust, and the team has quickly formed a strong bond ahead of the season.
The Boilermakers don’t just treat each other as teammates; they are also friends off the court. That has instilled a lot of trust within the roster, which is important if they want to get the program headed in the right direction.
“On the court when we’re kind of trying to help each other out, get everybody on the same page, it doesn’t come off like I’m trying to tell you what to do,” Aaron said. “It’s like, I want the best for you and us as a team. It makes things a lot better, because I've been in situations where that’s not there and it’s a huge difference.”
With Purdue, Aaron feels more stability than she has in the past. It’s a better fit for her on the court and she feels a better connection with the players and coaching staff. She is more comfortable with having conversations and deeper relationships, whether it’s about basketball or her personal life.
Whereas she felt avoidant in her last stop, she has fully been integrated in the culture the Boilermakers are building.
“I’m not the type of person to be homesick, but when you’re out somewhere random, it helps to have people you can talk to,” Aaron said.
Even if her role has to change or things aren’t always smooth, Aaron feels like she is in the best environment to do that. As long as she can help contribute to winning she’ll be content, no matter what the numbers say.
“If we have a good season and I’m doing what I need to do, that’s enough for me,” Aaron said. “If I could do the best of my ability that’s great, but as long as I’m doing what they need to do for us to win, that’s success to me.”
Purdue was quick to go after Aaron for a reason.
Chase Gemes covers high school sports and Purdue women's basketball for the Journal & Courier. He can be reached at cgemes@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: How Averi Aaron found her way to the Purdue women's basketball team