Former Syracuse guard Tiana Mangakahia signs with Australian pro team Northside Wizards

Shortly after she was cut from the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday night, former Syracuse Orange women’s basketball player Tiana Mangakahia signed with the NBL1 league’s Northside Wizards in her home country of Australia. Mangakahia came to the United States from Brisbane six years ago to play college basketball.

Mangakahia was not drafted, but signed a training camp contract with fellow Australian Sandy Brondello and the Phoenix Mercury shortly after the draft. She was cut on the second to last day of camp. Mangakahia appeared in both of the Mercury’s preseason games, tallying 11 points and seven turnovers between the two scrimmages.

While repping the Orange and White, Mangakahia averaged 15.3 points and 8.7 assists in 85 games. Mangakahia was nicknamed the Assist Queen by ‘Cuse fans, as she led the nation in that category and set multiple records during her college career. She missed the 2019-20 season due to breast cancer and returned to the court last season. Mangakahia is Syracuse’s all-time leader in career assists and the fastest player to score 1,000 career points in program history.

The NBL1 league began in 2019 and has 58 teams divided into four conferences: North, South, Central, and West. Mangakahia’s Wizards play in the North Conference. This is the team’s first year in the NBL1. The Wizards compete at the Northside Indoor Sports Centre in Brisbane.