The Oregon women’s basketball team received its third verbal commitment for the 2007 recruiting class Tuesday.
Australian Ellie Manou joins Nicole Canepa and Tatianna Thomas in agreeing to don Oregon green and yellow. Manou, who is a member of the Australian Institute of Sport, was drawn to come play for Oregon assistant coach Phil Brown, who was the AIS women’s head coach from 1991 to 2005.
“He just really knows the game of basketball, what you need to work on, and he picks out the little 1 percent of your game and improves it so you can get to the next level,” Manou said.
In a scheduling quirk, Manou and AIS will visit McArthur Court on Nov. 3 for an exhibition game.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Manou said. “I’ve never played before anything like (Mac Court), so it’s going to be a great experience for me and the rest of the team.”
Manou visited three schools: University of Utah, St. Mary’s in California and Oregon. At first, Brown was Manou’s main draw to Oregon, but she also liked the idea of playing under coach Bev Smith and enjoyed the players.
“When I came on my visit, I just really loved it – the feeling of the city and that Ducks’ women’s basketball is such a big thing,” Manou said.
She said she’ll bring a hard-work mentality but is still learning the game.
“I can come up with some big boards,” Manou said. “And I’m starting to work on my offense more, some back to the basket moves. I’ve been working hard this last year to become more of a complete player.”
A stress fracture in her right foot cost Manou 11 months of on-court experience, she said.
“That was a huge hit to my basketball development,” Manou said.
Oregon is utilizing a more up-tempo style of play this season with lightening quick Tamika Nurse manning the point guard position. Manou said she grew accustomed to Brown’s style from playing on his club team.
Oregon, which graduates five seniors next spring, is gaining depth with Manou, who describes herself as a quick learner and someone who can come in and contribute quickly.
“I think under the guidance of (Brown) and Bev Smith, I’ll be able to improve and do well in my freshman year,” Manou said.
Of those five seniors, Oregon loses three post players in Jessie Shetters, Carolyn Ganes and Jamie Hawkins and forward Eleanor Haring. The 6-foot-2 Manou is Oregon’s second post player to commit, joining Canepa, who is a 6-foot-5-inch post at St. Ignatius Prep in San Francisco.
By today’s standards, Manou started playing basketball late, only beginning at age 15. She initially played netball, a sport derived from basketball and popular in Australia. Basketball served as a way to stay in shape during the offseason. The two sports’ similarities made it “a pretty quick transition,” she said.
At women’s basketball media day Tuesday, Smith said Oregon is looking to sign five to seven players for its next recruiting class.
“We’re still in with some really strong kids from the Washington area,” said Smith, who cannot comment on recruits until after they have signed a letter of intent. “This next coming week we should know a lot about where this class will be.”
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