PULLMAN, Wash. – The Washington State women's basketball team announced Thursday, May 27, the addition of transfer forward Keeli Burton-Oliver. The 6-3 forward will be eligible to play for the Cougars in the upcoming 2021-22 season and has four years of eligibility remaining in her collegiate career.
Burton-Oliver, a Seattle native, returns to the Evergreen State after spending one season at Arizona State. The post player was a standout at Eastlake High School in Sammamish, Washington, where she was a two-time Washington Class 4A Player of the Year. Additionally, Burton-Oliver was a two-time Washington 4A first team selection and was ranked as the 12th-best player at her position in 2020 class by ESPN.com. She posted a double-double in 66 percent of her 107 games played for the Lady Wolves and averaged a double-double during her four years at EHS at 17.6 points and 12.6 rebounds per contest. In total, Burton-Oliver scored 1,886 points and pulled down 1,351 rebounds during her four-year prep career. She is the only player in EHS history to be named a first team All-Kingco League four-consecutive times.
During her senior season at Eastlake in 2019-20, Burton-Oliver averaged 20.2 points and 14.9 rebounds per game en route to be named the Washington State 4A Player of the Year by the Washington State Girls Basketball Coaches Association (WSGBCA). She was also named to the Washington all-state team by the Associated Press and set the school record for most points scored in a single game with 59 points, besting her previous school record of 47 points.
As a junior in 2018-19, Burton-Oliver led Eastlake to the 2019 Washington Class 4A State Title, the program's first-ever state championship. The 6-3 post player was named the 2019 Class 4A State Tournament Most Valuable Player and scored 22 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in the title contest. The Associated Press named Burton-Oliver the 2019 Washington Class 4A Player of the Year after averaging 20.1 points and 13.8 points per game during the season.
The forward becomes the third signee for Washington State for the upcoming 2021-22 season, joining Australian guard Tayah Burrows and Canadian forward Tara Wallack. WSU is coming off a historic 2020-21 campaign that saw the Cougars make a return trip to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 30 years, while making their first-ever appearance in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Cougars will look to improve on the strides they made last season, as all five starters return for Washington State in the fall.
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