Assurances have been made that the Australian National Team is in fact not relocating to Charleston after the Eastern women’s basketball team added freshman Jordan Pyle to the roster, making her the fourth Australian athlete on the roster.

Pyle will redshirt for the remainder of this season and will join the team next year as a redshirt freshman.

With her high school team, she earned the Citizen Award and was named to the all-conference first team.

Playing in city club basketball, Pyle averaged 7.3 points per game and grabbed 5.9 rebounds.

Eastern head coach Matt Bollant spotted Pyle playing while on a recruiting trip to Australia in the fall and said he liked her right away.

“She can run and jump, can really shoot it, really skilled and has got a chance to help our program,” Bollant said. “A talented kid. When I came in, there was probably 120 kids in the gym and she was the second best. The top kid is going to go to BCS schools, and she was maybe the best guard that I saw there.”

At 5-feet-11, Bollant is hoping the lengthy Pyle can transition into a role as a forward with the team, as the roster is already congested with talented guards.

Pyle could also be the answer to Bollant’s desire to get an impact post player for the future of the program.

“She’ll play the three for us. I’m hoping that we can make her into a four, because we have an awful lot of guards and we need somebody to help us at the four because our post players are not playing very well,” Bollant said.

The worry with Pyle playing the four rather than the three is a question of her strength rather than height.

“She has got some length to develop with because she is long and she is athletic, but we just have to see how much stronger she can get,” Bollant said.

The post presence of Pyle will be welcomed by Bollant, who has been critical of his team’s post play in recent games.

Pyle will be the fourth addition and second forward Bollant has made to the 2018-2019 roster. She joins Indiana native Abby Wahl as the other forward and guards Kira Arthofer and Jordyn Hughes.

JJ Bullock can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]