Kalani Purcell

Kalani Purcell (born 13 January 1995) is a New Zealand professional basketball player.

Early life and career Purcell was born in Auckland, New Zealand. She later moved to Australia, where she attended John Paul College in Brisbane, Queensland. She was named WBC MVP and earned league All-Star Five honours in 2014.

College career Purcell played her first two seasons of college basketball for Hutchinson Community College between 2013 and 2015. She joined the BYU Cougars in 2015 and played two seasons of NCAA Division I.

Statistics

Professional career WNBL Purcell joined the Melbourne Boomers of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) for the 2017–18 season. She continued with the Boomers in 2018–19, 2019–20, and the 2020 WNBL Hub season.

QBL/NBL1 North and WBC/Tauihi Purcell played for the Brisbane Spartans in the Queensland Basketball League (QBL) in 2017 before re-joining the South West Metro Pirates for the 2018 QBL season. She continued with the Spartans, now in the NBL1 North, in the 2021 NBL1 season and 2022 NBL1 season. She made her senior international debut with the Tall Ferns at the 2013 FIBA Oceania Championship. She went on to play for the Tall Ferns at the 2015 FIBA Oceania Championship, 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, 2017 FIBA Women's Asia Cup, 2019 FIBA Women's Asia Cup, 2019 FIBA Women’s Olympic Pre-Qualifying Asian Tournament, and 2021 FIBA Women's Asia Cup.

Purcell played for the New Zealand women's national 3x3 team at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Personal life Purcell is the youngest of seven children to Ingrid and Brian Purcell. Two of her older sisters, Charmian and Natalie, have also represented the Tall Ferns and are both Olympians.

Purcell and her partner, NBL player Tyrell Harrison, had their first child in 2023.