Holly Ensoll commits to UC Davis NCAA Division One

Ipswich and Great Britain Centre Holly Ensoll has verbally committed to UC Davis. The class of 2026 6’6 big has been heavily recruited by a number of high performing D1 School’s and has chosen UC Davis after a long recruitment process, having received multiple offers from big name D1 programme’s.

UC Davis, finished the 2025/26 season with a 23-11 record, have previously competed in the Big West Conference and are expected to continue to be a highly competitive programme, after their move the Mountain West Conference for the 26-27 season.

The 6’6 centre has built an impressive resume during her young career establishing herself as a major contributor at senior women’s level, while helping Copleston and Ipswich to multiple National Championships as the U18, U19 and senior level.

Prior to joining Copleston and Ipswich, Holly’s early years were spent developing her game at the impressive Kingston Lions programme in London, a club that has emerged as one of the top programme’s in the country in recent years, having won the u16 girls National Championship in 2026.

In 2025/2026 the Ipswich youngster was named as WEABL South Conference Defensive Player of the Year, and was named to the WEABL All First Team, putting up 15.3 points, 16.3 rebounds and 4.1 blocks per game – setting the record for the most blocks ever in a WEABL season.

The 18-year-old had this to say about her commitment to UC Davis “After a long and rewarding journey, I am incredibly fortunate and excited to receive an offer that feels like the perfect next step in both my basketball career and my life. Every conversation with Coach Gross reinforced how special this programme is, and I quickly fell in love with the culture, and opportunities it offers. I want to thank my family, coaches, teammates, and everyone who has supported me throughout this process. Ipswich has become a huge part of who I am, and I will always be grateful for the people who helped me get to this point. I hope to make everyone proud as I begin this next chapter.”.

Ipswich Head Coach Nick Drane said “The recruitment process has been a really fascinating for Holly. I’ve been fortunate enough to go through the process with a number of our players, male and female, but Holly’s recruitment has been on another level, only really comparable to Esther Little and Ethan Price – we have had communication almost every day for well over a year, from dozens different schools. Holly is highly academic, and has a very specific academic path she wants to follow. The outstanding basketball programme at UC Davis combined with one of the best engineering programme’s in the world is ultimately the reason why this is the perfect fit.

Drane added “Holly will be in the experienced hands of Coach Jennifer Gross and her amazing staff at UC Davis, who have been an absolute privilege to get to know during this process. Everyone at Ipswich and Copleston is incredibly proud of Holly and we would also like to recognize Andrew Wallace and his coaching team at Kingston Lions, who worked closely with us when Holly first expressed an interest in our programme over three years ago – they are a class programme and they way to supported Holly in coming to Ipswich was always with her best interests at heart”. Holly added “The Kingston programme took me from a regular 14-year-old who had never picked up a basketball and helped shape me into the player I am today. It sparked my love for the game, taught me so much, and laid the foundation for my basketball journey. This is a programme I will always be grateful for because of the incredible people involved. Even after I made the move to Ipswich Basketball, they continued to support me, stay in touch, and keep me involved with the club and its summer camps. Thank you to Coach Wallace for seeing my potential when I walked in the gym the first time (having never touched a basketball) and starting my journey off on the best foot possible.”.

A personal message from Holly:

It’s been a long journey filled with plenty of ups and downs, and there were times when I changed my mind about where I wanted to be almost every week. None of this would have been possible without the unwavering support of all the coaches at Ipswich, especially Coach Nick, who understood exactly what I needed from this process and helped turn that dream into a reality.

I’m incredibly grateful to UC Davis for believing in me and seeing my potential. Thank you for the opportunity—I’m excited to represent the programme and give everything I have over the coming seasons.

Thank you to my parents, who saw my love for the game, and made it their mission to get me to where I wanted to be through sitting in car parks every Tuesday and Thursday night while I trained with Kingston and flying across Europe to see me play with my country. You have sacrificed so much to get me to where I am now, and still are my number one supporters. I don’t know what id do without you guys, Thank you!

Thank you to Nick, for filling in for my parents when I needed support and guidance while I was 3 hours away from home. The care and support you’ve given me throughout the last 2 years has made me a better basketball player and a better person. You have gone above and beyond helping me learn more about myself in the last 2 years, and you have genuinely made me a better person. Thank you for all the lessons I’ve learned on and off the court.

Thank you to Harriet Wellham, being my coach and my teammate, you made every time I stepped on the court as enjoyable as possible. I’m going to miss playing with you next season, but even more as a mentor.

Thank you to Andrew, for starting this whole process off. This would be a blank document if you hadn’t spent those extra hours with me in the park during holidays, and encouraging me to train and play with the boys team. You made all of this possible by seeing potential in me, when I had never touched a basketball or even seen a game.

It has been an incredible journey over the last 2 seasons playing at Ipswich, I've learned so much, and been pushed. This experience has been amazing and I have gotten so close with my coaches and teammates, even though I haven’t been here that long, I feel like I’ve known all of these people my whole life, I am so fortunate to have been a part of this programme, thank you to Ipswich for taking me in and becoming a second home for me. The best thing about my time here is not the basketball, it’s not the awards, it’s the people.

This process has been almost unbelievable to me, if you had asked me 1 year ago if I wanted to go to America to play division one, I would have probably said it’s not possible, but thank you to every single coach and teammate who has helped me throughout my journey, you have all gotten me to here. I hope to make all of you proud

in this next chapter.

Holly is the third player from Ipswich and Copleston to commit to NCAA Division One this summer joining Maisie Keyes (Vermont) and JUCO transfer Yazmin Edwards who has moved to Umass Lowell, while Millie Pearson entered the transfer portal before deciding to stay at D1 outfit Morehead State.

Copleston and Ipswich are still recruiting top tier talent that can contribute at the WEABL and NBL D1 – if you are interested in arranging a visit or speaking to a member of the coaching staff please get in touch.