Class of 2026 center Callie Hinder commits to Arizona women’s basketball

Becky Burke’s first traditional class at Arizona is going to be heavy on frontcourt players. The Wildcats got a commitment from 2026 center Callie Hinder on Thursday. She joins forward Priyanka Ponnam, who committed last week.

Hinder grew up in Australia and plays for the Australian national program, but she currently resides in Chandler, Ariz. where she plays prep ball for the PHHoenix Prep National (PHH Prep) team and travel ball for Mountain West Premier. Her family relocated to the U.S. in 2016 after her father, Russell Hinder, retired from his 13-year career in the NBL.

Hinder represented Australia for the first time in the 2025 FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup last month. She didn’t play much during the tournament, appearing in just two games for a total of 15 minutes. However, she came home with a silver medal after her team advanced to the final. They fell to the U.S. by the score of 88-76 in the gold medal game.

Hinder spent her first two years of high school at Corona del Sol, where she played both basketball and volleyball. She appeared in 54 basketball games.

She averaged nearly a double-double over those two years, ending with 10.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game while shooting 54 percent from the floor and 52 percent from the line. She also contributed 1.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 2.9 blocks per contest. Highlights from her time at Corona del Sol can be found on one of her HUDL profiles.

Hinder also played for Hamilton High in Chandler. While there are no stats available for her time with the Huskies, highlights are available on another HUDL profile.

She currently plays for PHH Prep, a basketball academy that also offers an online academic program for 3.5 hours per day, four days per week. She helped lead PHH National to a Canyon Athletic Association National state title in 2025.

The CAA is an organization of sports programs outside the Arizona Interscholastic Association system. It consists primarily of sports academies like PHH Prep, AZ Compass Prep, and Bella Vista Academy.

Hinder took her official visit to Arizona in early June.

She returned to Tucson to take in a Wildcats’ practice the final week of July.

Hinder reported over 20 offers, including fellow Big 12 schools Arizona State, Kansas, Texas Tech, and TCU. She whittled that down to the Wildcats and the Jayhawks. She took a visit to Lawrence in late July.

Despite her impressive list of offers, the 6-foot-6 Hinder is not ranked by ESPN, 247, on3, or Prospects Nation.

Hinder and Ponnam give Burke two known commits for the class of 2026. The status of Spanish guard Somto Okafor, who committed to the previous staff last November, is unknown.

Burke has posted two “Bear Down, Baby” announcements on X/Twitter over the past two days, indicating that another commitment should be made public soon.