'Izzy does it again': MVP Borlase recruits for the WNBL

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Isobel Borlase: Australian Opals wing; Bendigo Spirit reigning MVP; Atlanta Dream role player; and superstar WNBL recruiter.

Borlase, 21, has been revealed as the key piece of the puzzle in Tasmania Jewels securing 21-year-old WNBA centre Madina Okot as the expansion club’s final signing.

"After talking to Izzy (Isobel Borlase), my teammate, she's from Australia, and after having a Zoom with the coaches, they made everything so clear," Okot said.

"I like the team's culture, I like how they take good care of players, and I just can't wait to meet you all."

Borlase and Okot are rookies together at the 18-11 Atlanta Dream in the WNBA’s Eastern Conference.

Okot, the 13th pick in this year's WNBA draft, is the Jewels' second import and the last player on the first roster the club has named.

Borlase, who will play for the Australian Opals at next month’s FIBA Women’s World Cup, also played a crucial role in Bendigo Spirit luring Opals teammate Jade Melbourne to country Victoria.

"Izzy (Borlase) was very excited, and she was a big part of getting Jade over the line," Spirit general manager Dan Jackson told basketball.com.au in an exclusive interview, after Bendigo announced Melbourne, 23, had left the Canberra Capitals on June 30.

"They're a similar age. They're genuine friends, not just basketball friends.

"I think they room together when they go away with the Opals. Playing with your best friends in a program that I think will be very competitive this season, there are plenty of positives there.

"When people around the same age get into an environment that's supportive of them, where they're working out together as much as possible, it's going to be a really good thing for them."

Kenyan Okot is 1.98m tall with a 2.10m wingspan and Tasmania Jewels head coach Claudia Brassard said Okot was “intimidating”.

“We have that good balance of experience and leadership, youth and hunger, but also playmakers, sharpshooters and interior presence,” Brassard said.  

“Okot is the final piece of our team; we’ll be very competitive. Her game style is physical; her height and wingspan are intimidating.  

“She’ll give us a big presence inside the paint, an elite rebounder who can also help us defensively.

“She’s relatively new to basketball and her upside is huge; she’s only just scratching the surface.”

Okot’s development has been extraordinary; in just five years she has gone from playing volleyball for fun to the WNBA.

“I was just out there playing volleyball,” she said.

“I don’t really know if I liked it at that time, because that was the only sport that I played. I was just trying new things, and I ended up loving basketball.

“I think it was so easy to learn, and the things I was supposed to do, like learning to dribble, how to make a layup, I think it was so easy to learn, and I also think it was the person who was trying to teach me; they were so good at doing it.

“It [the WNBA] is a very good experience of learning from the greatest and competing with the greatest players in the world, and I’m learning from the greatest coaches too.”

Okot left college as one of the best rebounders in the SEC. She made the 2025-26 All-SEC Second Team with South Carolina and led the conference in four rebounding categories in her final season.

In SEC history, she ranked third in career offensive rebound percentage (18.4%), third in total rebound percentage (23.6%), fifth in two-point field goal percentage (.613), eighth in defensive rating (73.6) and 13th in player efficiency rating (33.4).

In 2024-25, she finished second in the SEC for total rebounds (325) and offensive rebounds (120), and led the conference in field goal percentage (.649), total rebound percentage (23.1%), offensive rebound percentage (17.5%) and defensive rebound percentage (28.4%).

Nationally, she was fourth in field goal percentage, 10th in offensive rebound percentage, 11th in defensive rebound percentage and 12th in true shooting percentage.

She was better again in 2025-26. She led the SEC in total rebounds (412), rebounds per game (10.6), offensive rebounds (149), defensive rebounds (263) and defensive rating (69.4), and ranked fourth nationally in offensive rebounds, fifth in total rebounds and 16th in rebounds per game.

She scored more, too. Okot was 15th in the SEC for points (500), ninth for field goals made (214) and eighth for two-point field goals (201). She was fourth in win shares (7.8), third in defensive win shares (3.4), fifth in box plus/minus (16.7) and fifth in offensive box plus/minus (10.2).

Tasmania Jewels play their first game – and the first game of WNBL27 – against Geelong Venom on Thursday, October 15, 2026 in Hobart.

About the Author

Peter Brown is the head coach of the Sydney Comets Women’s Youth League team in the Waratah Basketball League in NSW. He is also the assistant coach for the Comets NBL1 women’s team in the NBL East Conference. Peter is a 30-year journalist, starting as a sports reporter at the NT News in the early 1990s. He played junior basketball for the Northern Territory at national championships from U16 to U20 and for the Territory’s senior men’s team at numerous international tournaments. Peter has been a basketball fan since the early 80s, especially the NBA. Basketball is his passion — and his opinions his own. Email peter.brown@basketball.com.au with feedback. Any email feedback on articles sent to Peter can be published on basketball.com.au for others to read.