WARRNAMBOOL Mermaids are celebrating the signing of a Ballarat Miners basketballer for the 2022 Big V season.
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Keele Hillas, 22, will relocate to Warrnambool in the new year after landing a teaching job at Brauer College.
The versatile player has Big V experience with Ballarat's youth league team and trained with its NBL1 outfit.
Hillas said she was eager to don the Mermaids' jersey in the division one competition and "share my love for the sport".
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"I am excited to come and meet new people and make some friends but also join the basketball community down there," she told The Standard.
"I know it has a rich history and they have been pretty successful so I am really excited to bring some experience."
Hillas, who was born and raised in Ballarat, can fill a number of roles but enjoys playing shooting guard.
Her mum Megan Hillas played for the Ballarat Rush and her uncle Matt Nunn for the Ballarat Miners.
"We have a big family history in basketball and mum got me into it pretty early," she said.
Warrnambool coach Lee Primmer said the Mermaids were rapt to welcome Hillas to the team.
"We rarely get basketballers who have played at that sort of level shift to Warrnambool," he said.
"Her stats in (youth) championship were of the standard that she'd be definitely helping us.
"We were always going to chase a player to replace Grace Rodgers (who is moving away) but Keele sort of fell in our lap.
"She's a good size, about five-foot-10 or five-foot-11.
"She can hit the perimeter shot.
"She does individuals with an old coaching mate of mine in Peter Cunningham and anybody who works with him would be able to play and their skill level would be good."
Hillas landed a PE teaching gig at Brauer College after completing a bachelor of health and PE at Federation University.
She considers Warrnambool the ideal spot to start her professional career.
"I am looking forward to getting down to the beach and having a surf," Hillas said.
"I am a bit of a surfer so I am keen to surf in the mornings then head to work and train in the afternoons and maybe head back for a surf again.
"Who wouldn't want to live near a beach and sand?"
Warrnambool - a two-hour drive from her home town - also reminds her of Ballarat.
"I think Warrnambool has a big country feel and they're a small town-vibe so I am excited to be in a close-knit community," she said.
Justine McCullagh-Beasy
Sports journalist with an interest in feature reporting. Email: justine.mc@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Sports journalist with an interest in feature reporting. Email: justine.mc@austcommunitymedia.com.au
