Kansas State guard Tess Heal returned to action Wednesday after she was suspended by the NCAA for three games due to signing a contract with a professional team in Australia, her native country.
According to the NCAA, no athlete is allowed to sign a professional contract while currently playing for a collegiate team. Heal signed with the Keilor Thunder, a team in Australia’s NBL1 South League, for the 2026 season, which begins after the college season is over.
The senior guard had no intention to play games professionally while being with Wildcats. Instead, she was going to play with the professional team once her college eligibility ran out at the end of the season.
Heal had been sitting out waiting for the NCAA to rule on her eligibility when it was announced she would miss three of the team’s games. She returned to action on Wednesday, Feb. 4th, on the road against Arizona.
“We’re glad this issue has been resolved,” K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said. “We will look forward to having Tess [Heal] back for the game Wednesday.”
Recently — and for the first time — multiple players who have played in the G League and professionally overseas were able to return to college basketball and play immediately without suspensions or consequences. Heal, however, was still suspended without playing a professional game for her new team.
The suspension also came at a tough time for Heal, who had been hitting her stride in Big 12 play, averaging 16.6 points per game. Heal had two big scoring outings in that stretch, scoring 31 points at Houston and 25 points against Utah.
In the games Heal missed, K-State went 1-2, including a loss to their in-state rival, Kansas, and another loss to Colorado before beating Arizona State on the road.
Without Heal on the court, teams were able to gameplan and slow down Taryn Sides, as she was the main guard threat left on the K-State offense. Getting Heal back will not only get the Wildcats back to full strength but will bring back the senior leadership the team needs — one of the main reasons Mittie recruited her in the first place.
“We saw some leadership in Heal, coming from Stanford,” Mittie said before this season. “She had been a big player at Santa Clara her first two years, and was at Stanford a year ago. We saw that when we recruited her, and Tess has kind of filled that role when she needs to jump the team a little bit.”
K-State had been around the bubble for the NCAA tournament, according to some bracketologists, but has slipped lately due to its recent losses.
With the return of Heal, the Wildcats will look to make a run in conference play to finish the season. In an open Big 12 and a young roster getting better each week, K-State has a chance to be on the right side of the bubble come Selection Sunday.
