Oregon State’s Kelsey Rees signs two-year contract WNBL’s Bendigo Spirit

Published 5:49 pm Monday, June 30, 2025

Former Oregon State women’s basketball forward Kelsey Rees is turning pro and heading home.

Rees inked a two-year deal with the Bendigo Spirit, the reigning champions of Australia’s Women’s National Basketball League, on Monday. Bendigo is located in the state of Victoria, about seven hours from Rees’ hometown of Glenelg North in the state of South Australia.

“I’m really looking forward to joining the Spirit for the 2025–26 season,” Rees was quoted as saying in the Spirit’s press release. “I had an incredible college career in the US and was lucky to learn from some amazing teammates and coaches. Now, I’m really excited to be coming home to Australia to play the game I love.”

“Joining a Championship-winning team with some of the best bigs in the League is an amazing opportunity, and I can’t wait to keep learning, contribute however I can, and connect with the Bendigo fans.”

Rees’ return to Australia comes after five years of college basketball in the United States. The 6-foot-5 post came stateside in 2020, spending three seasons with the Utah Utes before transferring to Oregon State for her junior and senior seasons.

She was a plug-and-play starter and a key piece of two NCAA tournament teams for the orange and black, starting 59 of the 70 games she appeared in at Oregon State and averaged 26 minutes a game.

Following Oregon State’s Elite Eight run during the 2023-24 season, Rees was one of just six players to return to the Beavers for the 2024-25 season.

As a senior, she and blossomed into a focal point of head coach Scott Reuck’s West Coast Conference tournament-winning team leading the Beavers in both points (12.9) and rebounds (7.7) per game. Rees earned first-team all-WCC honors as a senior and named an academic all-American by College Sports Communicators for maintaining a 3.93 GPA in her masters program at Oregon State.

“Having (Rees) choose Bendigo to start her professional career is a huge win for our club,” Bendigo’s general manager Dan Jackson stated in the press release. “She had a fantastic senior year at Oregon State… We expect (Rees) can come in and contribute right away and look forward to helping her along her basketball journey for at least the next two years.”

Prior to playing collegiate basketball in the States, Rees had a decorated career with the Austrian National Team’s youth affiliates. She helped lead the Australian U16 team to a gold medal at the 2018 FIBA Asian Championship, as well as another gold with the U17 squad at the 2019 FIBA U17 Women’s Oceania Championship and a silver-medal finish at the 2021 U17 FIBA World Cup.

Rees’ rookie campaign will begin Oct. 18, when the Spirit open the 2025-26 WNBL season against the Townsville Fire.