UH stocking up on Wahine hoopsters for 2016-17 season

While preparing for the new season, Laura Beeman and the University of Hawaii women’s basketball staff set about restocking for the next.

The Rainbow Wahine announced a six-player signing class on Saturday — three from the West Coast and three from Australia — and Beeman anticipates the newcomers making an immediate impact when they join the program for the 2016-17 season.

"It’s definitely a bigger class, it’s going to be a great complement to our returning players," Beeman said in a phone interview from Flagstaff, Ariz., where the Rainbow Wahine (1-0) face Northern Arizona today.

"By then our (current) freshmen should be rocking and rolling a little bit, so we feel very confident they’ll be a group of young ladies that can come in as a freshman class and contribute immediately because we’re going to need that from them."

The UH backcourt will add guards Brittany Wunhym (5 feet 6, Melbourne, Australia), Courtney Middap (5-10, Wynyard, Australia) and Julissa Tago (5-9, South Medford, Ore.). Forwards Amy Atwell (6-0, South Perth, Australia) and Makenna Woodfolk (6-2, Tacoma, Wash.) and center Taylor Donohue (6-3, Trabuco Canyon, Calif.) add height and depth to the frontcourt.

Wunhym, a point guard who won age-group national championships in Australia, was recently named the Victorian Defensive Player of the Year for 2014. Middap was the Tasmanian Female Basketball Player of the Year in 2013 and was a member of a state championship team.

Beeman will look to Atwell, Tago and Woodfolk to continue UH’s trend of versatile wing players. Woodfolk attends Todd Beamer High School, which also produced Rainbow Wahine sophomore forward Megan Huff.

"Those three ladies will give us the ability to rebound and run, post up smaller guards again, hit the 3, all those different things," she said.

Donohue adds depth and height to the frontcourt and is "going to be a true back-to-the-basket post player for us," Beeman said.

UH will lose five seniors at the end of the season in Destiny King and Ashleigh Karaitiana, both guards/forwards; centers Connie Morris and Kalei Adolpho; and guard Marissa Wimbley.

Beeman credited the current players for helping to bring the prospects into the program during the recruiting visits.

"This team understands family and understands what it takes to play for the University of Hawaii and live in the state of Hawaii," Beeman said. "So they’re very picky about who they recruit, but they do a fantastic job in the recruitment process."

The Wahine opened the season with a 74-41 win over Grand Canyon on Friday in Phoenix. They bused to Flagstaff after the game and will face an NAU team opening its season today at the Rolle Activity Center. The Lumberjacks return three starters from a team that went 13-17 last season and were picked eighth in the Big Sky preseason coaches poll.

RECRUITS FOR 2016

>> Amy Atwell: F 6-0 South Perth, Australia

>> Taylor Donohue: C 6-3 Trabuco Canyon, Calif., (Santa Margarita Catholic High School)

>> Courtney Middap: G 5-10 Wynyard, Tasmania, Australia

>> Julissa Tago: G 5-9 South Medford, Ore. (South Medford High)

>> Makenna Woodfolk: F 6-2 Tacoma, Wash. (Todd Beamer High)

>> Brittany Wunhym: PG 5-6 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia