WICHITA – Wichita State women's basketball gained its first transfer portal addition of the spring with the signing of graduate transfer and Wichita native Jaila Harding.
 
For the third-straight season, head coach Terry Nooner has brought a hometown kid back to Wichita for her final season of collegiate basketball, signing Tre'Zure Jobe in 2023 and Taylor Jameson in 2024.
 
"We're fired up about the signing of Jaila Harding," Nooner said. "Any time we get the chance to bring a Wichita kid back home, we're going to do it."
 
Harding, a 5-foot-8 guard, spent 2023-25 at New Mexico State, where she averaged 8.8 points per game over the last two seasons. Both seasons, she led the Aggies in three-point shooting, hitting 61 threes each year to rank fourth in Conference USA in three pointers per game. Last season, Harding also led the team in assist/turnover ratio (1.45), and in 2023-24, she was named C-USA Honorable Mention All-Conference as the Aggies' second-leading scorer with 9.4 points per game.
 
"Jaila is a tough, scrappy guard who plays with a chip on her shoulder and can really shoot the basketball," Nooner said.
 
Prior to her time at New Mexico State, Harding spent two years at Butler CC, where she started 59 games, averaged 9.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game and was named to the 2022 All-KJCCC Honorable Mention team.
 
A Wichita native, she played for Wichita Southeast High School, earning Third Team All-State recognition as a senior, and graduated as the valedictorian of her class.
 
"She fits the culture we're building here at Wichita State, and we can't wait to get to work with her," Nooner said.