Mackenzie Holmes is taking her basketball career Down Under. At least for a few months.
The Gorham native, who is currently playing for the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, will soon be playing in the Women’s National Basketball League in Australia.
She has signed with the Geelong Venom, according to the Australian league.
“I’m really looking forward to joining Geelong for the upcoming WNBL season,” Holmes said in a WNBL update on Sept. 10. “I chose Geelong because I’m really excited about this group, and I feel like it’s going to be a great place for me to continue to grow and thrive as a basketball player.”
The WNBL is an eight-team Australian league that has a regular season lasting from Oct. 18 to Feb. 8 and each team plays 23 games.
The WNBA regular season lasts from May 16 to Sept. 11 and each team plays a 44-game schedule. The league playoffs will stretch through mid October. WNBA players often go overseas to play in the WNBL and other foreign leagues to get more playing time during the offseason.
Lenny Holmes, Mackenzie’s father, told the Bangor Daily News that his daughter had “a lot of different options” including European leagues “but this seemed like the best fit for her.”
He said the WNBL is a developmental league for the WNBA and pointed out that Golden State Valkyries guard Veronica Burton, who was recently chosen the WNBA’s Most Improved Player, played in the WNBL. She played for the WNBL-champion Bendigo Spirit.
He explained that his daughter is still under contract to the Storm and the WNBA team will have to make a decision in January whether to retain her rights or release her.
The former two-time All-American at Indiana has seen very limited game action with the Storm, appearing in 10 games and averaging 5.8 minutes per appearance. She is averaging one point and one rebound per game.
The Storm face elimination heading into Tuesday night’s playoff game against the Las Vegas Aces.
She is a rookie in the WNBA after missing the 2024-25 season while recovering from knee surgery.
Holmes said despite the lack of playing time, his daughter has maintained a positive attitude and feels she has improved significantly.
“She is in the best shape of her life and has worked out a lot with their player development staff,” pointed out Len Holmes.
He said the Storm staff has emphasized to her that they want her to focus on becoming a three-point threat.
The 6-foot-3 Holmes was a third round draft pick of Seattle in 2024. She was the 26th overall selection. She joined former Cleveland Rocker and Sacramento Monarch Cindy Blodgett in the small group of players from Maine to make it to the WNBA.
According to women’s basketball website The Next, Geelong head coach Chris Lucas said Holmes “ticks every box” from a basketball standpoint.
“She has great hands, she finishes exceptionally well around the basket, and plays with a calm presence that makes her such an efficient and reliable option inside,” Lucas told The Next.
Ezi Magbegor, an Australian who is Holmes’ teammate in Seattle, played a role in Holmes’ decision to sign with the Venom, according to the site.
Holmes told The Next that she wanted to play overseas and that after evaluating all of her options, felt this was the best for her.
“Obviously, you know, I don’t play much here, so to actually get live gameplay will be really good for me,” Holmes said. “And I think I can take everything I’ve learned over this past season with me over to Australia.”
The 24-year-old thinks the team in a “very established league” will be “a really good spot for me.”
Holmes had a remarkable 147-game, five-year career at Indiana University and left as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,530 points.
She also set school records for field goals made (1,043), field goal percentage (63.9) and games won (123).
She was the program’s first First Team All-American.
She garnered eight All-American selections and earned the program’s first Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2023.
She was on the league’s All-Defensive Team four times and led the Big Ten in blocked shots three times.
She earned unanimous All-Big Ten First Team, All-Big Ten Defensive team, USWBA and AP All American selections in her last year.
She led the Hoosiers to four NCAA Tournament appearances including a Sweet Sixteen berth in her final year (2024) when she averaged a team-high 19.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.
She led her conference in field goal percentage for her final two years and, in both years, she was named as an AP All-American.
Holmes led Gorham High School to two state Class AA state championships and was the Maine schoolgirl Gatorade Player of the Year in 2019.
She was chosen to the Bangor Daily News’ All-Maine Schoolgirl Basketball Team all four years including first team berths her final three seasons.
