Talia von Oelhoffen opens up about difficult decision to leave Oregon State for USC
Talia von Oelhoffen sat with her teammates in their tear-filled locker room. Just a few days earlier, Oregon State was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament in the Elite Eight by the eventual champions South Carolina.
The Beavers weren’t ranked in the preseason top 25 and were picked to finish ninth in the Pac-12. They talked about the incredible year they had, the run they put together which landed one win shy of a Final Four appearance.
However, eight players also expressed their desire to enter the transfer portal.
Von Oelhoffen was one of them.
No one discussed it beforehand, because they were focused on trying to win a national title. But von Oelhoffen has always had the idea of grad transferring on her mind. It wasn’t because she didn’t love her time at Oregon State, or even because realignment forced the Beavers to move from the Pac-12 to the WCC.
“I just knew in my heart that I wanted something else from my last year,” von Oelhoffen told On3. “Both on the court and off the court, so many different things go into it. But it was definitely a super hard decision.”
Talia von Oelhoffen had tough discussions with teammates
Talia von Oelhoffenknew the hate would come, especially after the Beavers gained more attention during their tournament run. But that doesn’t make it any easier when fans accuse you of “plotting” to transfer the entire season or when a media member publicly asks if the players talked to each other before deciding to enter the portal.
As one of the leaders at Oregon State, von Oelhoffen knew she would get the brunt of criticism from her teammates and many would have a hard time understanding the decision. But she assured her friends she would always be there for them.
“I talked a lot in the meeting honestly and then I let them all say their piece,” von Oelhoffen said. “It was very much telling them to just be ready for what’s coming and just giving advice on how we should all handle it and how we need to carry ourselves through it. Just reassuring ourselves that we know this is the right decision. This is our decision. So what other people are saying shouldn’t carry weight and doesn’t matter.”
Despite this, it still affected her at times.
“Some of the things I tweeted out – it was just important for me to get out there,” she said. “I could have responded to a lot of people. Having opinions is one thing but people getting the facts wrong doesn’t sit right with me. Not everyone’s gonna get on social media and defend themselves or their teammates, but that was something that was important for me. We’re all great people who made decisions for the right reasons so the hate is not necessary or warranted.”
von Oelhoffen used social media to document transfer
Von Oelhoffen was open with fans throughout her whole transfer process. She utilized social media to post her top four schools in a Fornite-style post that caught the attention of many.
“I think it’s cool for the fans to get to see that,” von Oelhoffen said. “Also, people are gonna say what they’re gonna say or speculate things about me anyway…if people are going to talk about it or speculate, I might as well just just share it. It’s not like it’s a big secret thing. I think it’s cool. It’s engaging, especially in this era of social media and in branding yourself.”
Her top four schools prior to her decision were Kentucky, Louisville, USC and Colorado. But as soon as she visited Los Angeles, she knew she wanted to be a Trojan. Freshman phenom JuJu Watkins reached out to von Oelhoffen within hours of her entering the transfer portal.
“I think I heard from her before any of the coaches I talked to, so that was pretty cool,” von Oelhoffen said. “I think just playing against each other in the Pac-12, we had that mutual respect… She didn’t give me a recruiting pitch or anything. She just let me know that she wanted me on her team.”
Von Oelhoffen, a 5-foot-11 guard, averaged 10.7 points, five assists and 4.1 rebounds this past season, and comes with no shortage of experience, having started 90 games in her four-year college career.
Von Oelhoffen visited USC with former Stanford star Kiki Iriafen and between hanging out together making TikToks, trying on a USC jersey and talking with coach Lindsay Gottlieb, von Oelhoffen had made her mind up.
She called Gottlieb the next day and committed.
von Oelhoffen has big expectations at USC
“I’m super excited and I’m kind of a veteran at this point going into my fourth year,” von Oelhoffen said. “I’ve been through the wars of college basketball. So I feel super prepared and just excited to put all the pieces together.”
The trio of von Oelhoffen, Iriafen and Watkins plus the addition of highly-touted freshman Kennedy Smith gives the Trojans high expectations as they move from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten. USC was ranked No. 1 in On3’s post-spring Top 25 rankings.
“It’s my first time ever being in it and just knowing that we have the pieces [to win a national title],” von Oelhoffen said. “That’s the goal, right? Just being a great leader and doing whatever I need to do to get my team there.”