THE Warrnambool Mermaids have signed a pair of marquee players and they're home-grown talents.
Bendigo Spirit's Louise McLean and former Bulleen Boomers guard Katie Davis will play with their home-town side in 2010.
Davis played her junior basketball with Warrnambool before lining up in the WNBL with the Australian Institute of Sport, followed by the Boomers.
After taking 2008 off, the 27-year-old played for Nunawading in the South East Australian Basketball League last year.
"I've just moved back to Warrnambool to start work because I graduated last year," the chiropractor said.
"My dad said 'I'll coach if you play' and I said 'I'll play if you coach'."
Davis last lined up for the Mermaids in 2006, when she was the star of the championship side.
She shared Big V division one women's MVP honours with teammate Nicole Hunt, was the league's leading scorer after averaging 16.3 points per game and collected the MVP in the grand final.
"I'm just wanting to have a bit of fun this year," she said. "The girls who we've had at training have been amazing and with Louise back it looks like it's going to be a good season."
McLean played 12 matches for the Mermaids last season, which marked a return from a serious shoulder injury.
The 25-year-old was a strong leader for the young outfit and had a notable impact, averaging 13.5 points, six rebounds and almost four assists per game.
"It was good but I think this year will be better competition-wise because we've moved up to division one," she said.
"Last year division two wasn't the greatest competition but at the same time I was coming back from my injury so it wasn't too bad."
McLean was thinking about taking a season off after she finished her 2009-10 WNBL commitments.
"I've been playing since I was six or seven and I was feeling a bit burnt out when I spoke to (coach) Peter (Davis)," she said.
"But then I thought I'm moving back home permanently and I couldn't imagine not playing."
After sustaining an ankle injury on Saturday night against Bulleen, McLean is in a race against time to be right for the WNBL finals series, which Bendigo is expected to make.
While Davis shared the MVP in 2006, McLean was the competition's MVP in 2007, which was also a championship year.
Newly-appointed coach Peter Davis, who led the side in '06, was looking forward to having McLean and his daughter on board.
"Having two players who are effectively previous MVPs of the league is exciting," he said.
"It's going to really help the local talent and help with the development of our younger players."
Meanwhile, Warrnambool sent sides to Hamilton's annual tournament on the weekend.
The under 12 girls edged out Ararat by a point in the final after losing to them by 12 points in a minor round match. The under 16 boys recorded a convincing 17-point win over Ararat in the final.
The under 12 boys went down to Colac in the final, while Terang claimed the under 14 boys' B title over Warrnambool.
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