MEDIA RELEASE

Saturday 18 January 2020

TORNADOES ADD MORE FRONT COURT HEIGHT FOR 2020

The St.LukesHealth Launceston Tornadoes have strengthened their front court with the signing of 192cm Power Forward Megan McKay for the 2020 NBL1 South season. McKay continues the Tornadoes recruitment of height to the talented local Tornadoes players after the recent signings of Keely Froling (188cm) and Ellie Collins (182cm) were also announced as the clubs 2020 recruits.

McKay, 23, is currently playing with German Club Wasserburg in the division 1 league. She is averaging 15.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.

Born in Perth, McKay played in the West Australian Country State team for four years from 2010 to 2012. McKay then played for WA Metro for one year in 2013 and for WA in the U20 Nationals in 2014. McKay was very impressive in the 2014 tournament, averaging 20.0 points and 14.6 rebounds per game. McKay also represented in the U18 national team for 2 years.

McKay McKay then headed to the USA to play a distinguished career for Saint Mary’s College in California. She graduated in 2019 and averaged 12.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in her senior year, with Conference Championship All-Tournament Team and All- Conference First Team honours, as well as being the first player in Conference history to lead the conference in FG% all four years.

Megan was also a member of the Australian Under 17 FIBA Women’s championship team in 2013 and won a gold medal whilst representing the UniRoos in the World University Games in 2017.

The Tornadoes have had a good history of recruiting Saint Mary’s graduates with national representatives Lauren Nicholson (Australian Opals) and Stella Beck (NZ Tall Ferns) both graduating from the US college.

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Tornadoes Head Coach Sarah Veale is excited to have secured the signature of this talented player saying “Signing Megan completes our squad. We now have a group that will be hard to guard inside and out and who can defend the full length of the court.”

“Megan is an elite, athletic post player with a combination of Australian, College and international experience. Megan is tough and competitive with a great finish. Megan comes highly recommended by her coaches and team mates. We are really excited to have her joining us nd she will help us and she will help lead our group on and off the court.” Veale added.

After finishing her College career McKay started her professional career in the highly competitive Damen- -Bundesliga (DBBL), the top women’s professional league in Germany.

McKay is looking forward to returning to Australia and playing professionally for the first time in a national league, having played briefly in in their State Basketball League (SBL) after graduating from college. McKay is looking forward to the challenge, saying:

“I am excited to head down to Tassie and to play for the Torns this NBL1 season. I’m looking forward to working with Sarah Veale and my other teammates to help develop Launceston’s basketball culture and to bring back a championship for the club. I’m very keen to see all that Launceston and Northern has to offer. Can’t wait to be down there!”

The NBL1 season commences on 18 April with the Launceston Tornadoes first home game being played on Saturday 25 April against the . This will also be a double header game with the North West Thunder also playing at Elphin Stadium.

McKay will join the Tornadoes squad in Launceston once commitments in Germany conclude with her team likely to qualify for finals in April.

-ENDS-

Contact:

Operations Manager – Corey Ackerly: 0417 037 337

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Head Coach – Sarah Veale: 0488 339 889

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