UCLA women's basketball bringing transfer Elina Aarnisalo back
After just a year away from the UCLA women’s basketball program, Elina Aarnisalo is returning to Westwood, committing to the Bruins out of the Transfer Portal on Sunday.
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Aarnisalo spent her true freshman year at UCLA before transferring to North Carolina before last season. The belief was that she transferred out hoping for more playing time, with UCLA having a senior dominated team in 2025-26.
The sophomore guard indeed played more minutes and started more games for the Tar Heels, and showed meaningful second-year improvement, going from 27% from three as a freshman to 40% from three as a sophomore. Her assist rate dipped, but he rebounding numbers improved, and overall she became a more adept scorer, taking her points per game from 5.1 as a freshman with UCLA to 10.2 as a sophomore with North Carolina.
Aarnisalo will have a chance to compete for major playing time for the Bruins, and already obviously has familiarity with Cori Close and her system, having averaged 21 minutes per game as a true freshman for Close. She was a key part of that 2024-25 team that made the Final Four, and she actually ended up starting 10 games that season.