Duplicating arguably the best season in Miami Women's Basketball history will be a tall task for the 2023-24 version of the program. Miami loses several key players from its squad 2022-23 squad which marched to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. Lola Pendande, Karla Erjavec, and Haley, and Hanna Cavinder were all key contributors to an unforgettable team.

One player that was arguably the most significant to lose was Destiny Harden. Harden was the 27th overall pick in the WNBA draft to the Phoenix Mercury.

She was the heart and soul of the Miami Hurricanes team last year, finishing the season second on the team in scoring (11.9) and first on the team in rebounding (5.9) and steals per game (1.7). Junior guard Ja'Leah Williams spoke to Harden on her birthday on Tuesday.

"I'm just glad she was just in my life and how she made a mark on me.," Williams said. "Just not on the court, but off the court. I gained her as a family member. Destiny will forever be by my side forever, be the one I go to. One thing I did learn from Destiny is how to lead the team and what is needed from you as a leader. Being that I have to step up and take that role this year, I definitely learned a lot from Destiny with that role and I feel like she set me in a good position to take the lead."

Williams averaged 6.5 points on 41 percent shooting last season and will be dependant upon to play a bigger role if the Hurricanes want to repeat last year's success.

In preparation for the 2023 season, the Hurricanes traveled to France and Greece to play semi-pro teams in three scrimmages. Miami defeated all three teams it faced and Williams feels the team learned much from the experience.

"On the court, it really showed a lot about how this team's skill set is going to be and how we will run the floor as a team and what is needed of each person."

Miami has brought in several transfers to assist with the many players no longer on the roster from the 22-23 season. Shayeann Day-Wilson (Duke transfer), Ally Stedman (Pepperdine transfer), Jaida Patrick, (Columbia transfer), and Lemyah Hylton (Arizona transfer) join talented returners in Williams, Jasmyne Roberts, Lazaria Spearman, Kyla Oldacre, Lashae Dwyer and others. Miami has become a transfer destination with its recent success.

"If you've been somewhere else and then you walk into one of our practices, you're going to see this joy, you're going to see this freedom, you're going to see this incredible support, emotional support. You're going to see toughness, you're going to see players getting on each other, right? And, but here's a lot of communication, there's a lot of chatter, and it's not a once-voice all-the-time kind of situation. So, when transfers come on a visit, they see this. You can't fake what we've built in all of this time. It's real, it's authentic, it's off the cuff. We're not putting on a show; we're not putting on an act."

Miami opens its season at home against Jacksonville on November 9th. Miami released its conference schedule Tuesday night.