Indiana Women's Basketball Starter Leaves Program After Being Benched: The Valentyna Kadlecova Story
When a freshman took her starting spot, Valentyna Kadlecova chose professional basketball over fighting for minutes
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — On Thursday, December 12, 2025, Valentyna Kadlecova started for Indiana women's basketball against Louisiana-Monroe, just as she had in each of the Hoosiers' first 10 games of the season.
By Thursday, December 19, she was gone — returning to her native Czech Republic to play professionally, ending her college career after just 11 games as a sophomore.
What happened in between tells a story that's playing out across women's college basketball: talented players losing their starting jobs to incoming freshmen, sitting out games for "personal reasons," and then walking away rather than accepting diminished roles.
"This was a decision Valentyna made with careful consideration, and we wish her the best in her next chapter," head coach Teri Moren said in a statement.
But the decision wasn't made in a vacuum.
The Benching That Changed Everything
The turning point came on December 12 against Louisiana-Monroe. Indiana was 8-1, but Moren made a lineup change that signaled a shift: She benched Kadlecova, her 6-foot sophomore who had started every game, in favor of Maya Makalusky, a freshman guard who had been coming off the bench.
Makalusky — the 2025 Indiana Miss Basketball and Bedford, Indiana native — wasn't just getting her first start. She was being handed an opportunity to seize a permanent role.
And she took it. Makalusky had what multiple outlets described as a "career night," delivering a performance that made coaches question why they hadn't made the change sooner.
For Kadlecova, who had averaged 21.7 minutes per game through 11 contests, watching from the bench while a freshman took her spot and thrived had to be crushing.
Two days later, Kadlecova was mysteriously absent from the lineup against Eastern Michigan. The official reason: "personal reasons."
In college sports, "personal reasons" often means a player is deciding whether to stay or go.
The Numbers Don't Tell The Full Story
Let's be clear: Valentyna Kadlecova wasn't failing at Indiana.
Through 11 games as a sophomore, she averaged 5.4 points and 21.7 minutes per game. Those aren't star numbers, but they're solid contributor numbers for a Big Ten starter. She appeared in 11 games as a freshman, and her sophomore year was supposed to be her breakout season.
Instead, she found herself in a situation that's becoming common in women's college basketball: A veteran watching a highly-touted freshman take her job.
She wasn't benched because she was playing terribly. She was benched because someone else was better.
In 2025, that means you have options.
The Professional Alternative
Here's what makes Kadlecova's situation different from similar scenarios even five years ago: She had somewhere to go.
Women's professional basketball has exploded globally. Leagues in Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America offer legitimate opportunities for talented players who might not make the WNBA.
For a European player like Kadlecova, the calculation is simple:
Stay at Indiana:
- Come off the bench with reduced minutes
- Watch a freshman excel in your former starting role
- No guarantee your role improves
- Maintain amateur status (limited NIL)
- Balance academics with basketball
- Two more years before turning pro
Go play professionally:
- Get paid immediately
- Play significant minutes in Czech Republic
- Start building professional career now
- No academic distractions
- Be closer to home
When you frame it that way, the decision becomes obvious.
Why This Is Happening More Often
Kadlecova is far from the first player to make this choice. Across women's college basketball, a pattern has emerged:
The Transfer Portal Explosion: In March 2025, Indiana lost five players to the transfer portal after their season ended — all reserves who weren't getting playing time. That's standard now.
The European Option: More American and international college players are leaving early for professional opportunities overseas when their roles diminish.
The Freshman Recruiting Arms Race: Programs recruit better freshmen every year. The 2025 Indiana recruiting class ranks in the top 25 nationally. Veterans constantly look over their shoulders at younger, hungrier players.
The Mental Health Reality: The pressure of college athletics has never been higher. Balancing academics, athletics, and the mental strain of losing your starting job is overwhelming. Sometimes walking away is healthier.
What This Means for Indiana's Season
Kadlecova's departure leaves Indiana dangerously thin.
The Hoosiers entered the season with depth concerns after losing nine players from last year's roster — three to graduation (Sydney Parrish, Chloe Moore-McNeil, Karoline Striplin) and six to the transfer portal, including leading scorer Yarden Garzon who averaged 14.4 points per game.
Through 12 games, Indiana has dealt with a rotating injury list:
- Redshirt freshman Sydney Fenn out for season (knee injury)
- Sophomore forward Zania Socka-Nguemen missed five games (injury)
- Sophomore forward Faith Wiseman missed time (jaw injury)
- Senior guard Jerni Kiaku missed games (illness)
In Indiana's win over Eastern Michigan — the game Kadlecova missed — only seven Hoosiers saw meaningful action. Senior guard Shay Ciezki played all 40 minutes. Two other players logged over 34 minutes each.
That's not sustainable over a full Big Ten season.
Now, with Kadlecova gone, Indiana is down to 12 scholarship players — and that's before any other injuries or departures.
The silver lining? Maya Makalusky has seized the opportunity, providing exactly what Indiana needed: energy, scoring punch, and confidence.
But relying heavily on a freshman in Big Ten play is risky. What happens if Makalusky hits a wall or gets hurt?
The Transfer Portal Domino Effect
Kadlecova's mid-season departure is unusual, but it's part of broader roster chaos at Indiana.
March 2025 Transfer Portal Departures:
- Julianna LaMendola (sophomore guard)
- Lexus Bargesser (junior guard)
- Henna Sandvik (junior guard)
- Lilly Meister (junior forward)
- Sharnecce Currie-Jelks (junior forward)
- Yarden Garzon (junior guard, team's leading scorer)
That's six players via the portal — all frustrated with either their role or the program's direction.
Add three graduates, and Indiana lost nine of their 14 scholarship players from last season.
Coach Moren had to rebuild through the portal, bringing in six transfers: Jerni Kiaku (Duquesne), Chloe Spreen (Alabama), Phoenix Stotijn (Arkansas), Edessa Noyan (Virginia), Zania Socka-Nguemen (UCLA), plus freshmen Makalusky and Nevaeh Caffey.
That's 8 new faces out of 13 scholarship players. Almost no continuity from last season.
Now they're down to 12.
Player Empowerment or Program Instability?
Kadlecova's decision raises uncomfortable questions:
Is this player empowerment? Players now have options. If you're unhappy with your role, you can transfer or go pro. That's freedom and agency.
Or is this program instability? Coaches can't build for the long term if players leave when things get difficult. How do you develop players if they bolt at the first sign of adversity?
The truth is probably both.
From Kadlecova's perspective, this was absolutely right. She's 19 or 20 with a chance to play professionally in her home country right now. Why wouldn't she take it?
From Indiana's perspective, this is a problem. They recruited her, developed her, gave her a starting role — and when they tried upgrading the position, she walked away, leaving them short-handed.
From the sport's perspective, this is the new normal. Players have leverage they never had before.
What Coaches Are Learning
The Kadlecova situation offers lessons:
Benching a starter mid-season is risky. When you bench a player who's been starting, you're telling them they're not in your long-term plans. Don't be surprised when they leave.
International players have more options. European players grew up in systems where youth leagues funnel directly into professional clubs. They're more likely to think "I can go play professionally back home" than "I need to fight for my spot."
Depth is built through trust, not talent. You can have 13 scholarship players, but if only 7 or 8 trust their role and feel invested, your depth is an illusion.
Freshmen aren't always the answer. Makalusky has been excellent, but relying heavily on freshmen is dangerous. They hit walls. They get tired. They struggle with Big Ten physicality.
What This Means for Women's College Basketball
The Kadlecova situation is a microcosm of broader challenges:
Roster management has never been more complex. Coaches must balance recruiting elite freshmen with keeping veterans happy. One misstep and players walk.
The transfer portal isn't going away. Every year, hundreds of women's basketball players enter the portal. It has fundamentally changed how rosters are built.
Professional opportunities are expanding. More leagues, higher salaries, better conditions globally.
Players are making business decisions. This isn't about toughness or commitment. Players treat basketball careers like businesses, making calculated decisions about maximizing opportunities.
Coaches must adapt or get left behind. The old-school "my way or the highway" approach doesn't work. Players have too many options.
The Season Continues
Despite losing Kadlecova and dealing with injuries, Indiana sits at 10-2 heading into Big Ten play.
Shay Ciezki has been spectacular, averaging over 20 points per game. Maya Makalusky has provided a spark. The defense has been solid.
But the margin for error is razor-thin. One or two more injuries or departures, and this season could unravel quickly.
Teri Moren — now in her 12th season — has navigated roster challenges before. But this year feels different. The turnover has been more extreme. The mid-season departure of a starter is unprecedented.
How she manages this will define not just this season, but potentially the program's trajectory.
The Question Every Program Is Asking
Kadlecova's decision raises the question every college basketball program faces:
How do you build a sustainable program when players can leave at any moment?
The answer isn't clear.
What's becoming obvious is that the old model — recruit players, develop them over four years, build continuity — is dying. The new model is more transactional: Recruit aggressively every year, manage the portal constantly, accept that roster turnover is part of the game.
For veteran coaches like Moren who built reputations on player development and program culture, it's jarring.
For players like Kadlecova who grew up in professional sports systems, it's just business.
The sport is changing. Indiana women's basketball is learning that the hard way.
