Bobcats ink Aussie hooper Averill

Ella Averill is as ready as one can be to move across the world for basketball.

The Perth, Australia native has been training with the Willetton Tigers of the country’s second-best women’s league, NBL1, since she was 14.

Now 20 and a key piece of the semi-professional team’s success, Averill is heading to Brandon University to fill the Bobcats’ third import spot for the 2025-26 Canada West season.

“I’m super excited to be honest. It all happened pretty quick and is a bit of a shock but really excited, obviously, to meet all the girls and all the coaches,” Averill said, adding head coach Ilarion Bonhomme made it feel like a great fit.

“Ilarion seems like an awesome coach and is also a good human, which is something I really respect. I really liked the way he talked about their style of play … both his offensive and defensive structures really suit my style of play, being really fast, up tempo, running the floor, aggressive.”

Suddenly, the Bobcats’ lineup looks a whole lot different and way more competitive than when they went 2-18 last regular season.

That was Bonhomme’s first year at the helm, and it’s already becoming clear that signing him was as much about what he brought to the team by way of experience as it was about who he could bring.

The former Bobcat guard, who was named Canada West rookie of the year in 2012, played six seasons of professional basketball overseas. That included a stop in Australia, where he connected with agent Luke Sutherland, who put him in touch with Averill.

“He knew I always wanted to bring in some internationals from Australia just because the level of basketball is so high. He sent me a couple of players and we really, really liked this one,” Bonhomme said.

“Super versatile, can guard one through five, can play probably close to that.

“She can score, really good passer, elite communicator, elite rebounder, relentless, I can’t speak highly enough of her. She can do everything you need on a basketball court.”

Last season, BU had a few players pop off on the offensive end. Veteran guard Piper Ingalls had three 20-point games, including 24 against a tough Calgary Dinos defence.

Rookie guard Abbey Shand hung 24 against Mount Royal a week earlier.

Nevada product Amaya (Ducky) McLeod dropped 26 and 24 against Winnipeg and Manitoba, respectively, in her first weekend as a Bobcat.

All three were also contained by opposing defences often enough to keep Brandon from winning every game, save for its weekend sweep of MacEwan University in Edmonton.

But BU has too many scoring threats to focus on one now, with Averill and recently announced American guard Macaya Copeland, the National Junior College Athletic Association Division 3 player of the year in 2024-25.

“We needed to add more talent and we did that. So now, the floor opens up for Ducky, for Piper, for everybody. We can play more how we want to play with the roster we have coming in,” Bonhomme said.

“More up-tempo, way faster, Ella especially is going to really help us clean up the rebounds to get out in transition more.

“Ella and Macaya, the pace they play with, the way they push the ball, it’s going to be full go for 40 minutes.”

Averill started playing at age seven, joining the Western Australian Basketball League a few years later. She tried out for her state team at age 13 and earned a reserve spot, which lit a fire under her to make the main roster and her game took off from there.

Averill grew up as a point guard and now stands six-foot-one and predominantly plays on the wing. This season in NBL1, though, her team’s starting centre, Zatina Aokuso, has also missed time to play for the national team, so Averill has taken over and proven she can dominate in the paint.

She said that’s been a big highlight of her career.

“I had a couple of big games this season where I’ve top scored, which wasn’t my role at the start of the season,” Averill said.

“Coming into that role and being more aggressive as a player, I think I’ve found my confidence in my game again.”

She’s averaging 5.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game this season, shooting 47 per cent from the field. However, she averaged nearly 11 ppg in July, including a 25-point, 11-rebound effort on a day Aokuso was away.

And basketball isn’t her only focus. She’s also studying to teach elementary school while working as an education assistant.

“I absolutely love the little ones,” she said.

Averill will keep working towards her education degree at BU, which she said is a smooth process since Canada and Australia are both Commonwealth countries and Canadian courses and degrees are recognized back home.

On the court, she knows she’s stepping into a demanding role given the natural expectations placed upon international players.

“I’ve played with some absolutely amazing imports who have inspired me a lot so to have that role going into it,” Averill said.

“I’m really excited because I’ve seen the impact of imports that are so involved and build relationships with their teammates.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

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