CHICAGO (April 23, 2025) – The UIC women's basketball team has gained its second transfer of the offseason, as head coach Ashleen Bracey announced Jaya McClure will be joining the team for the 2025-26 season after three seasons at Ohio. She will be joining the Flames with two years of eligibility after opting to redshirt this past season.

"We are thrilled to welcome Jaya McClure to our Flames family," Bracey said. "She is an exceptional young woman that embodies each of our core values and the culture we have built and continue to build here at UIC.  Jaya is a high achiever on the court, in the classroom, and in the community.  She is a dynamic three level scorer that takes great pride on the defensive end.  Jaya has the skillset, work ethic, and drive to make an immediate impact on our program and help us to take the next steps to compete for a Missouri Valley championship!"

McClure played in 48 games in her first two years in Athens and was penciled into the starting lineup 22 times in her collegiate career. She averaged 10.6 points, three assists in a Bobcats uniform. After collecting All Mid-American Conference Freshman Team honors during the 2022-23 season, McClure was selected an All-MAC Honorable Mention the next season after leading Ohio in scoring (12.6 PPG) and total assists (75).

In her collegiate career, McClure was an offensive weapon for the Bobcats.  She collected double figures in 23 games across her collegiate career, including four games with 20+ points. Her best offensive game came against Kent State during her sophomore year, sinking 11 of her shots on her way to a 26-point performance to help lead the Bobcats to a 79-77 victory over the Flashes on Feb. 21, 2024.
Averaging three assists per game her entire collegiate career, McClure can find the open teammate with ease, having collected 146 total assists.  The guard has nine games across her career with 5-plus assists in a game, including a career-high nine assists against a power-five program in Syracuse on Dec. 9, 2023.

Prior to her time in Athens, McClure was dominant on the high school level, competing for Christian Academy in her hometown of Louisville, Ky. She helped lead her team to three 2A State championships (2018-22), collecting 2,256 points and 788 rebounds in her career. In her four years with the Centurions, she was voted the 2A State All-Tournament Team three times, voted the Most Valuable Player during the 2021-22 season, selected to the 2022 Ohio vs. Kentucky All-Star game in which she won a three-point contest, a 2022 Ms. Kentucky Basketball candidate, a 2022 McDonald's All-American nominee, and a 2022 recipient of the Donna L. Murphy award.

McClure becomes the second player to have joined the Flames for the 2025-26 season. Amelia Strong was announced to transfer to UIC on April 18.

For more information on UIC women's basketball, fans are encouraged to visit UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (@UIC_WBB and @UICFlames) and Instagram (@uic_wbb and @uicflames).