May 23—There was a time not so long ago when Joddie Gleason could take a few weeks off after the women’s college basketball season to reflect, relax and recharge.
Were that still the case, the Eastern Washington head coach would have taken that mental break soon after the Eagles’ season ended with the Big Sky Tournament in March.
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But with the way the sport is now, Gleason and the rest of the EWU staff has been hard at work in the two months since the basketball season ended, retooling a roster that, all things considered, returns plenty of experienced players while welcoming seven new ones.
“We bring in a bunch of new faces again, but I think we’ve filled some holes that we needed,” Gleason said Wednesday. “Our returners have worked extremely hard in the court and in the weight room. They’re all a year older and wiser.”
It is still going to be another five months before the Eagles play their next game, and there will be some time for everyone to head home for a bit once classes and basketball camps end in early July. But during the last few months the Eagles avoided the sort of roster churn that some other Big Sky schools experienced while also plugging some gaps in the roster left by graduation and three transfers.
“Back in the day you could plan your depth charts and knew exactly how many (recruits) you needed,” said Gleason, who just finished her fourth season at Eastern following five seasons on the staff at Seattle University. “Now you never know how many will be needed in each class.”
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With the implementation of the transfer portal and the freedom now granted athletes to move between schools, Gleason said she approaches the recruiting process in two overlapping ways. The first is to fill the spots of outgoing seniors with true freshmen in the next recruiting class. The second is, for the most part, to fill the spots of any student athletes who may transfer or leave before their eligibility is exhausted with transfers.
That approach netted the Eagles with four true freshmen and three transfers in this recruiting class. The freshmen include a couple of in-state players — Emma Myers, from Ridgeline High School, Dylyn Dress, from Kennewick — and two from out-of-state in Elyn Bowers (Pinedale, Wyoming) and Madeline Gibbs (Aurora, Colorado).
The three transfers are Brielle Magnuson (Walla Walla JC), Caitie Gingras (Cal State Bakersfield) and Autumn Agnew (Salt Lake CC). Agnew, now a junior, graduated from Central Valley High School.
Gingras, a 5-foot-9 guard, brings the most experience. Now a redshirt sophomore, Gingras averaged 26 minutes per game last year — her second at CSU Bakersfield — and averaged 6.6 points and 2.2 rebounds.
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Magnuson, a 5-foot-10 guard, was named All-Region MVP and Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament MVP last season after earning NWAC Freshman of the Year honors the year before.
They will bring competition at the guard spot where the Eagles are in need of minutes, after the graduation of seniors Peyton Howard and Alexis Pettis.
Three Eagles players transferred following the season, but none were major contributors. Part of that was due to injury, as was the case with Breeje Schuler, who averaged five points but played in just five games. Cori Wilcox and Valerie Cassidy-De Falco played in just five games combined.
Perhaps the greatest boon of the offseason for the Eagles was keeping Kourtney Grossman and Jaecy Eggers, two freshmen who started 23 and 26 games, respectively, last season. Grossman averaged a double-double (10.5 points, 10.5 rebounds) and was named Big Sky Freshman of the Year. Eggers’ averages (8.6 points, 5.6 rebounds) weren’t far behind.
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“I’m excited to have chemistry with the girls who are here,” Grossman said on Wednesday. “I think that we all really have grown to love basketball together and playing with each other. Our team’s motto is ‘for each other.’ It’s on the back of our warmups.”
Grossman said she hasn’t interacted much with the new players beyond the time they spent together on recruiting visits, but having been through the process just one year ago she is well aware of how the Gleasons — Joddie and Skip, who is the associate head coach — manage that process.
“They’re looking to bring in good people before good basketball players,” Grossman said. “They really value the quality of person they are bringing in.”
The group of returners next season will also include senior Ella Gallatin, who averaged 9.2 points and started 30 of 31 games, and redshirt junior post Bella Hays, who started 12 games and averaged 14.9 minutes. Also in the mix is sophomore Emily McElmurry, who played in 29 games off the bench last season.
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Considering the turnover on some other Big Sky rosters — four of the conference’s teams saw at least four players transfer this offseason — Eastern’s has gone through the offseason with change that resembles something from a decade ago.
Two years ago, Eastern Washington won the Big Sky regular season and tournament championships, falling to Oregon State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Eagles add former GU player to coaching staff
Eastern Washington announced this week the addition of Brynna Maxwell to its coaching staff.
Maxwell played her final two years of college basketball at Gonzaga, where she was named to the All-West Coast Conference First Team in the 2023-24 season.
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Gleason’s relationship with Maxwell dates back to Maxwell’s time at Gig Harbor High School, where she was the 3A State Player of the Year. This will be Maxwell’s first college coaching position.
“I love her energy, her enthusiasm,” Gleason said. “She just wants to pour into players in their development on the court and off the court. It’s a good fit relationship-wise, and her vision and her drive for what she wants to do as a coach.”
