Projected WNBA first round pick won’t return to Hobart but SEABL championship winning star could

With boom Australian talent Shyla Heal almost certainly headed to the WNBA and touted as an Olympic squad hope, Chargers coach Mark Nash has turned his attention to another Opal

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AUSTRALIA’S hottest female basketball prospect won’t be returning to the Hobart Chargers in 2021 but coach Mark Nash is hopeful of bringing back another WNBL star.

The Chargers secured the prized signature of Shyla Heal — daughter of Australian great Shane — last year before the NBL1 season was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Heal went on to shine in the condensed WNBL season, where she averaged 16.7 points a match on route to being crowned youth player of the year and leading the Townsville Fire into the grand final.

Shyla Heal signed with the Hobart Chargers last year before the shutdown of the NBL1 season due to COVID-19. Now projected as a WNBA first round pick, she won’t be returning to Hobart in 2021. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

The 19-year-old is now projected as a first round WNBA pick in April, ruling her out of suiting up for the Chargers, but Nash is in negotiations with Cayla George to feature in some capacity.

George was part of the Chargers’ SEABL South Conference championship side in 2014, and made a couple of cameo appearances for the Hobart Huskies in 2019.

“We are seeing what we can do around Opals schedules and Olympics and that sort of stuff, maybe on a limited games deal,” Nash said of landing George.

“We would love to make that happen if we could.

Chargers coach Mark Nash is in talks with Opals star and 2014 SEABL South Conference championship centre Cayla George to rejoin Hobart this year. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)

“Shyla when she went and had that WNBL season and took Townsville all the way to the championship game, the fact she was prepared to play with us last year said a lot about where she saw her career going and how we could help her.

“We are excited to see her continue on even though she didn’t actually put our singlet on.

“I would say she would be knocking on the door of the Opals for the Olympics as well. She has a big three or four months ahead of her.”

The Chargers announced Ellie Collins as their first signing and local sharp shooter Sharna Thompson, fresh off her first taste of WNBL life with Townsville, is set to also re-sign as soon as next week.

Nash confirmed another of last year’s signings Sarah O’Neill won’t be returning due to work commitments, while club favourite Kathleen Scheer is all but locked in pending quarantine requirements getting back into the country from America.

“The big thing we are working through at the moment is Kathleen, she has been a huge part of Hobart basketball,” Nash said.

“We had her physically here last year [prior to the COVID-19 shutdown] and we would love to bring her back.

“We are talking to her regularly and really just working through the logistics of what’s involved to bring someone from the US out, but it is our goal to have Kathleen playing for us this season.”

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