Oregon women’s basketball officially signed junior college transfer Megan Trinder Wednesday night, head coach Kelly Graves announced.
Trinder, a 5-7 sophomore guard from Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska, averaged 11.8 points per game and 7.3 assists per game while earning a third team All-American award this past season.
She’s originally from Hollywell, Queensland, Australia.
“She’s tough, very vocal, a great leader and a solid athlete,” Graves told the Emerald Wednesday night. “It’s the intangibles that I’m most impressed with.
“She really knows the game and we really need that. It’s critical.”
Graves said assistant coach Nicole Powell did the majority of Trinder’s recruiting.
“Playing for the Ducks is a dream come true,” Trinder said in a press release from the Oregon Athletic Department. “I am excited to build Oregon into one of the nation’s best programs.”
Trinder took an official visit in mid-March and selected the Ducks over TCU and Wisconsin.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be playing for the Ducks,” Trinder said in March when she verbally committed. “It’s just crazy. It’s a dream come true.”
Trinder joins incoming freshmen Lauren Yearwood, Oti Gildon and Maite Cazorla for the upcoming 2015-2016 season.
“The energy and passion Meg brings to the game will be a great asset for Oregon,” NECC head coach Matt Svehla said in the release. “She puts in so much work and has an infectious spirit about her. She’s such a great competitor and leader. The Ducks got a real keeper.”
Trinder’s family said that despite her fear of birds, she’s excited to take the leap to become a Duck.
“She works really hard,” Shellie Trinder, her mother, said. “She’s been playing she she was five-years-old. I’m overwhelmed. She told me she fell in love with Oregon right away. … She wanted a new experience.”
Trinder told her parents Powell recruited her around-the-clock, often calling her to talk and making several trips to see her play in person.
“They went to outback Nebraska to watch games,” Geoff MacLeod, her step-father, said. “It was sort of in the middle of nowhere. To get to Omaha and drive two and a half hours to watch a game. It means they were really interested.”
Graves knows with the addition of Trinder, the backcourt will have plenty of talent.
“There’s going to be quite a bit of competition at the point, which will allow (Lexi) Petersen to play off-the-ball,” Graves said. “We’ll be relatively new there, but I expect there will be quite a battle there.”
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne