WOU

Western Oregon women’s basketball head coach Greg Bruce announced the signing of Jade Haas to a National Letter of Intent on Thursday, May 21.

Haas, a 5-9 wing from Elma, WA, played her first two seasons of college basketball at Lower Columbia College, a member of the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges, after graduating from Elma High School in 2008. As a freshman at LCC, she led the Red Devils to a second place finish in the West Division of the NWAACC. She averaged 6.3 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and shot 48.3% from the field – leading the Red Devils in each category. In addition, she averaged 7.1 points and got to the free throw line 86 times in 29 games. LCC recorded another second place West Division finish in 2009-10 as Jade suffered through an injury-plagued sophomore season where she was limited to 16 games.

“We are very excited to have Jade join our program,” Bruce said. “She is a cat-quick wing with tremendous speed and eye-popping jumping ability! She is, without question, as good of an athlete as we have had in the program since I’ve been here. Because she missed several games due to injury last season, she flew under the radar from a recruiting standpoint. She runs the floor, attacks the basket off the dribble, and rebounds like a 6’2” post! She will absolutely live at the free throw line in our dribble drive motion offense. Not only that, she is the nicest person you’ll ever meet along with being an outstanding student. We are very fortunate Jade has chosen WOU to continue her college career.”

Jade was a four-sport athlete at Elma High School, participating in soccer, softball and track along with basketball. In her senior year, she led the Eagles to the semi-final game in the Washington state tournament. She averaged 12.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, and a team-leading 3.4 steals while shooting 46% from the field and amassing an incredible 116 trips to the free line in 27 games. The All-Evergreen League performer pulled down 21 rebounds in the state quarterfinals from her wing position.

“Jade is easily the most athletic player I have had the opportunity to coach, “ LCC head coach Chad Meadors said. “Jade will certainly be a fan favorite of the Wolf Pack faithful. With her breakaway speed and tremendous jumping ability, she has a way of making an offensive rebound exciting! Her all-around skills will bring excitement to WOU. I believe Jade is just scratching the surface of her basketball potential.”

In addition to her athletic accolades, Haas was named to the NWAACC All-Academic team with a 3.38 GPA. She plans to major in business at Western Oregon. Her parents are Ted and Melody Warren.