photo by: Butler Community College Athletics

Butler sophomore forward Freddie Wallace looks to score against Garden City on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024, in El Dorado.

The Kansas women’s basketball team has added an accomplished junior-college player who may be able to help fill its vacancy in the post.

Freddie Wallace, a 6-foot-2 forward from Lincoln, Nebraska, who played the past two seasons at Butler Community College in El Dorado, announced her commitment to KU in a social media post on Tuesday, calling the school her “new home away from home.”

Wallace started all but one of the Grizzlies’ games during her two-year tenure at the school, averaging 17.8 points and 7.1 rebounds over the course of her career while playing just 27.1 minutes per game. She was a third-team NJCAA All-American as a freshman and was named to the second team as a sophomore, becoming just the second player in the history of the Butler program to earn two All-American selections.

In a home victory over Cowley on March 6, she became the Grizzlies’ all-time leading scorer.

The Jayhawks have long been searching to add a post player to their robust transfer class, although as head coach Brandon Schneider said on his “Hawk Talk” radio show in April, that can be a challenge that the KU staff considers analogous to finding a quarterback or a left tackle in football.

KU had previously added North Dakota State transfer Elle Evans, who is 6-foot-3 but also an adept player on the outside who shot 45.7% from deep during her sophomore season in 2023-24.

Together, and along with returnees like Nadira Eltayeb, who is coming off a season-ending Achilles injury, and Danai Papadopoulou, they will hope to account for the loss of center Taiyanna Jackson. The 6-foot-6 Jackson, who is the program’s all-time leader in blocks and averaged a double-double over the course of her KU career, graduated and was selected in the second round of the WNBA Draft (though she is currently a free agent).

The rest of the Jayhawks’ transfer class consists of Evans, Sania Copeland (Wisconsin), Brittany Harshaw (Creighton) and Jordan Webster (UC Riverside). Schneider signed a two-year extension last Wednesday that will keep him in Lawrence through the end of the 2027-28 season.

photo by: Butler Community College Athletics

Butler sophomore forward Freddie Wallace shoots during a game against Cowley on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024, in Arkansas City.