Gianna Kneepkens joins the Tasmania Jewels for their inaugural WNBL season fresh off her rookie campaign in the WNBA with the Connecticut Sun after a standout time in college and all she wants is to help her new team win.
Kneepkens might still be only 23 years of age, but she's packed a lot of high-level basketball into those young legs as a renowned shooter having gone at over 43 per cent from beyond the arc right throughout her five years in college.
That saw her spend her first four years with the University of Utah before having a fifth and final season with the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) which led into her being drafted at No. 15 in the 2026 WNBA Draft by the Connecticut Sun.
And she now arrives at the Jewels fresh off that season with the Sun which finished off with a win back on September 25 against the Toronto Tempo with Kneepkens having a good game too with 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals with 4/8 field goal shooting.
That was only less than three weeks ago so it's been a whirlwind for her to now be with the Jewels and preparing for the WNBL season which begins in front of a sold out crowd at MyState Bank Arena on Thursday night against Geelong Venom.
It's been quite the ride over the past 18 months for Kneepkens finishing up her college career at UCLA before now having had a WNBA season, and preparing for the WNBL, and she just feels all the different experiences are helping her grow all the time.
"I'd say I learned a lot in the WNBA season from playing against really strong, physical girls and with it being my first year, there's a big growth step for that," Kneepkens said.
"I learned a lot and had a lot of fun and my teammates were great so I enjoyed my time. But now I'm excited to be out here to continue to learn and anywhere you go, there's different styles of basketball.
"So to be able to play here and learn the different terminology and play with different girls is a lot of fun to continue to play basketball helps grow my game."
Before signing on at the Jewels, Kneepkens was already familiar with the strength of the WNBL competition and it is a popular destination for WNBA players to come and play in their off-seasons.
So she was already keen to be part of the WNBL, but then when the chance to be part of history as a member of the first ever Jewels team instantly meant that she couldn’t think of a better place to start her time playing down under at.
"I knew that WNBL was a great league and I knew that this was the Jewels first season so I think that's really exciting to be part of something that's just starting and helping to grow the game of basketball in Australia. I think that's really cool to be part of," Kneepkens said.
"My teammates have been great at welcoming me and helping me with terminology and I think for me I can learn from them telling me and then going out to do it.
"When they're able to talk me through things and I've been able to learn from them, they've been really helpful in that way so I think that’s made the transition smooth.
"And the more you play with them, the more you understand each of their games so I'm just working on that and it's been good so far."
If you look at Kneepkens' college career and while she was a standout three-point shooter knocking down 333 triples across her 133-game career, she was much more than just a one trick pony.
Over the five seasons, she averaged 14.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists a game, and while she is confident she'll be able to produce some good numbers in the WNBL, it's about much more than just that for her.
"I'm extremely competitive so I'm going to do whatever it takes to win and I just want to play super hard for my teammates, and for the fans," Kneepkens said.
"So I'm going to give it everything I've got and I hope to just be a great teammate. I hope to bring some good shooting and some IQ to the team, and I want to rebound the ball and play high pace team. But the biggest thing is to be a great teammate and playing really hard."
Kneepkens has now wasted no time settling in with the Jewels on the court and is enjoying getting to know her new teammates, but learning to drive on the opposite side of the road is still taking some getting used to.
"I'm settling in great and I've been here for more than a week now so I feel like my jetlag is kind of on the back end of things," Kneepkens said.
"I'm enjoying my time getting to know the city a little bit and have been busy with training and stuff, but I've been enjoying it all so far.
"Driving on the left side is still scary and I only have driven on the right side once which I think is pretty good so I think that's probably been the biggest change, but I'm figuring it out and getting more confident with it."
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