Coupeville’s Makana Stone has signed a pro contract and will play in England’s top basketball league. (Photo property Loughborough University)
Same country, a higher level of competition.
Coupeville grad Makana Stone is remaining in England, but will make the jump to the country’s top basketball league after signing her first professional contract.
After stellar four-year runs on the hardwood at both CHS and Whitman College, the former Wolf went overseas, suiting up last season for Loughborough University in England’s Women’s National Basketball League.
Now, she will play for the Leicester Riders in the Women’s British Basketball League.
Stone and her new squad have a 24-game regular-season schedule, which kicks off in October and runs through April, 2022.
The top eight teams in the 13-team league advance to the playoffs.
Leicester and its rivals also square off in two tournaments which run alongside the regular season, with the WBBL Cup first up.
The Riders open play in that event Sept. 25, facing the Oaklands Wolves.
And yes, for my fellow Americans, there is supposed to be an “s” at the end of Oaklands, which plays out of Hertfordshire, and is not to be confused with the city in California which gave us Damian Lillard.
Stone, who earned a B.A. in Biology at Whitman, wraps up her Master’s in Exercise Physiology at the end of August.
Graduation is not until December, but other than making the walk to get another diploma, Andre’s lil’ sister will be able to focus full-time on the hardwood lifestyle.
Stone practiced with Leicester last season, but, as a non-European Union player, needed to qualify for a work permit before being eligible to play in the WBBL.
So, her game action came for Loughborough, which is sort of, kind of, the farm team for Leicester.
Running wild, the Coupeville native averaged a double-double, pouring in 270 points and snatching 231 rebounds across 17 games.
Stone added 33 assists, 58 steals, and eight blocked shots, had the third-best efficiency rating in the league, and finished second among all players in voting for the WNBL Team of the Year.
Her best performance was likely a 20-point, 21-rebound afternoon against previously-unbeaten Ipswich.
That game was capped by Stone banking in a buzzer-beater over the defense of Gonzaga-signee Esther Little, lifting Loughborough to a 77-76 win.
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