Heal Knew Right Away

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Tess Heal is out of breath. She sounds like she's been running wind sprints at Maples Pavilion. But, alas, on this Wednesday afternoon, she's been on the go as a student-athlete at Stanford University. She's focused on classes and homework and studying and finally training. Her 1-hour and 15-minute individual shooting session late in the evening will be her dessert after an arduous day. But, then again, she notes that every day at Stanford is arduous.

"Every day is slightly different," she says. "My busiest days I have three classes. Woke up, had breakfast, hit the gym for a quick workout, had my first class, had a 10-minute break, so I had time to eat, and went to my second class, which runs super late, and now I have a bunch of homework to do, a lot of studying.

"Then I'll train later. Get up some shots."

Three weeks until finals week at Stanford.

Then all sights fall upon K-State women's basketball in Manhattan, Kansas, where Heal, a 5-foot-10 senior guard from Melbourne, Australia, who already has seen the native grassland in the Flint Hills sway in the spring, prepares to officially settle into her new college home.

"I don't even have the words — beyond excited," she says. "I cannot wait. I'm excited to meet everyone. I know there's a couple other transfers coming in and some freshmen I haven't met. I'm ready to meet everyone and get onto the court."

Heal spoke with K-State assistant coach Staci Gregorio Foss first. Gregorio Foss got ahold of Heal on Instagram in April, two days after she had entered the transfer portal.

"Staci said, 'We love your game. You'd be a great fit for K-State. Would love to talk to you about our program.' I replied, 'I'd love to do that,'" Heal says. "We spoke later that day about all things K-State. Then I spoke with head coach Jeff Mittie. Over the next couple days, we had more conversations.

"Coach Mittie is very funny. He has a unique sense of humor, but I really like that. He knows his stuff really, really well. I have a good feel about if somebody knows ball. I've been a coach's daughter all my life. I've been around a lot of different coaches and have a good sense about what they're talking about. Coach Mittie has excellent basketball expertise and knowledge. I noticed that straight away. And he's very genuine."

Heal's conversations with K-State came in the midst of two of the busiest weeks of her life.

"My phone was blowing up," she says. "I can't tell you how many schools it was."
She narrowed the list to three schools. She visited each one.

Her biggest takeaway?

"I knew K-State was the right place for me," she says. "It's obviously a renowned women's basketball program. I knew about their success. I was very excited to see that K-State name pop up and talk with Staci and Coach Mittie about their goals and culture and Manhattan. It was all really exciting. I knew I wanted to be a part of it.

"Playing in the Sweet 16 is an expectation at K-State, but they want to go farther. They want an Elite Eight, a Final Four, a national championship game. That's what I'm looking for."

The journey to the Little Apple began long ago — and it gained steam almost immediately. Tess's parents, Travis and Sara, put a basketball into her hands at age 7. Then she played in an under-8 basketball league, and she was the only girl on the team. She made her first state team and represented Victoria at age 11. ("I thought, 'Maybe I can go somewhere with this,'" she says.) Then she played on the national team. ("Representing the Green and Gold was an incredible honor," she says.) At age 16, she began playing with 30-year-olds and WNBA All-Stars. She starred for Victoria Metro at the U18 Grand Final of the Australian Junior Championships. She captained the team at three Junior National Championships, winning two gold medals and one silver. She attended the inaugural Junior NBA Championships in 2018 to represent Asia-Pacific and finished fourth overall. Her on-court resume spans the length of a basketball court.

"From a young age, I thought if I worked really hard, I could go somewhere with this," she says. "My growth and development as a player came against players who were bigger, stronger and better than me. I've been very lucky thus far and hopefully the hard work will carry on along this path."

Basketball runs strong in her blood. Her father is a veteran basketball coach in Australia; her uncle, Shane Heal, is an Australian basketball legend; and her cousin, Shyla, was a first-round selection by the Chicago Sky in the 2021 WNBA Draft.

One of the biggest questions facing Tess as she neared the end of her initial stages of basketball: could she even get to the United States to pursue the next stage in her basketball journey?

"I always wanted to go to college," she says. "Dad and I watched a lot of college basketball growing up. I always dreamed of playing in a NCAA Tournament and the Final Four. Then when I began considering colleges, COVID struck, and that thwarted my plans, so coming out of high school, I didn't receive a lot of offers. I couldn't visit schools because I couldn't leave Australia, and we didn't play basketball for two years during COVID, so I didn't have any recent film to send to coaches.

"I was a big risk for a lot of coaches, which is very understandable."

Heal eventually received a few offers. She deemed Santa Clara to be the best opportunity.

"I was like, 'Let's give it a go,'" Heal says. "I'm incredibly grateful I had that opportunity. It was an amazing experience."

Heal left Santa Clara after two seasons with 1,225 total points, an 18.6-point scoring average, and 296 assists. She joined Caitlin Clark in shooting at least 45.0% and averaging 18.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 2022-23 and 2023-24. She was named to the 2023 WCC All-Freshman Team and was a two-time All-WCC first team selection in 2023 and 2024.

Then she found a home at Stanford.

"I spoke with Stanford originally, but they were sort of like, 'Look Tess, you don't have any recent film. We can't offer you a scholarship,'" she says. "When I entered the transfer portal after two years at Santa Clara, Stanford was the first school to reach out. They said, 'We are so sorry. We made a huge mistake not offering you. Please give us another opportunity.' Stanford is a place you don't typically turn down. I was very excited for the opportunity to come here."

Last season, Heal was the only player in Division I to shoot at least 50% from the floor and 45% from 3-point range. But her sky-high numbers from Santa Clara took a hit, as she averaged 8.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists. She had a season-high 24 points at Wake Forest on January 26.

"Ultimately, the reason I decided to move away is it wasn't quite the fit for me on the court," she says. "They have an incredible program with great coaches, great girls, and great people. I have good relationships with everybody here. My teammates were like, 'We're really sad you're leaving, but we wish you the best of luck. Let us know if you need anything. We'll be cheering for you.'"

Heal and the Wildcats should certainly elicit cheers next year. A host of players from K-State's Sweet 16 squad have moved on, including All-Americans Ayoka Lee and Serena Sundell, but Mittie and his coaching staff have put together the No. 8-ranked recruiting class in the nation for 2025-26, according to ESPN.

Heal heads toward Manhattan with an open mind.

"I'd definitely consider myself a veteran at this point — four years, third school, international athlete," she says. "I've had a lot of different experiences at a lot of different levels playing for a lot of very good teams. I hope I can bring all my experience, knowledge and understanding of basketball on all different fronts to K-State. I'm really excited to bring a lot of energy and passion.

"This year wasn't the right fit for me on the court. I wasn't able to perform the way I would've liked and do some of the things I know I'm capable of.

"I'm so excited to be able to get back to playing Tess Heal basketball and to do that at K-State."

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Ayoka Lee

Serena Sundell

Related Videos