Cedar Rapids Washington’s Hannah Stuelke is versatile, productive and hungry

CEDAR RAPIDS — Chris James is Hannah Stuelke’s coach.

Sometimes, he envisions life as Stuelke’s teammate.

“If I was playing on her team, I’d love it,” said James, in his sixth year as Cedar Rapids Washington girls’ basketball coach — and his fourth with Stuelke as the Warriors’ focal point.

“If she was getting double-teamed, I’d be getting a lot of open looks.”

Deja Redmond lives that life.

“Hannah is one of the greatest teammates I could ask for,” said Redmond, a classmate and teammate of Stuelke’s since third grade.

“She’s caring. She’s awesome. She really doesn’t have any flaws. She has kept adjusting and improving as a player.

“We just click. She clicks with everybody.”

A senior at Washington and a signee with the University of Iowa, Stuelke has averaged a double-double throughout her 59-game high school career — 19.0 points, 10.4 rebounds per game.

Last year, it was 21.4 points and 12.2 boards per game as the Warriors finished 13-4.

She’s far from your stereotypical 6-foot-2 player. She prefers roaming on the perimeter to the congestion of the paint.

And that versatility is what put her on so many high-level college coaches’ radars so early; Stuelke committed to Iowa nearly three years ago, as a freshman.

“I’m adding a midrange game, shooting more 3s,” Stuelke said. “I’m capable, and I really want to add some more wrinkles to my game.”

Such as ... ?

She smiled.

“I don’t want to give my secrets away,” she said.

In 1995, Paul James (Chris’ father) coached Washington to a state championship. On that team was JoAnna Stuelke (Hannah’s mother).

Hannah has watched video of her mom, who went on to play at Missouri Western and Illinois State.

“I’m a little better,” she said, that wry grin returning.

Still, there’s room for improvement.

In last year’s regional final — a 44-42 loss to West Des Moines Dowling, in which the Warriors let an early 15-point lead get away — Stuelke had 23 points and 18 rebounds.

At first glance, it was a monster effort. On the other hand, she was 10 of 24 from the field, 3 of 11 from the free-throw line.

“I remember the disappointment,” Stuelke said. “It came down to the end and we lost by two.

“It lights a fire for this season.”

Washington opens at No. 6 in The Gazette’s preseason Class 5A state rankings. Stuelke is the star, but there are good pieces around her.

Redmond provides a strong body and rebounder in the paint. Jaliea Havel and Aeri Thomas are quality perimeter players.

“We’re trying to build depth,” James said. “I typically like to play eight to 10 girls and press a lot. I don’t know if that’s going to be the case this year.

“The good thing is, Hannah covers up a lot weaknesses. You watch film, and if somebody has a bad closeout, she cleans things up on the back side.

“One of her best traits is that she finds the open girl as a passer.”

Redmond, and others, are the beneficiaries of that.

“If teams are double-teaming her, she’ll dump it down to me or kick it out (to the perimeter),” Redmond said.

Stuelke can fill a stat sheet, but she won’t fill a tape recorder with you-gotta-read-this quotes. Familiarity is a prerequisite for comfort.

“It takes time for her to get comfortable with somebody,” James said. “But she has lots of friends. She has a goofy side. She likes to joke and laugh. She’s a lot like Joanna.

“She’s super competitive. And she’s enthusiastic. She usually wins our sprints, little things like that in practice.”

A fitting final stage for Stuelke’s career would be at Wells Fargo Arena.

“We have a lot of potential. I think there’s a run to state in us,” she said.

Washington’s last state appearance came in 2013.

“Getting to state isn’t everything about what we’re doing here. We want to build girls and are confident and independent, future leaders in our community,” James said.

“I don’t want to look back at this season as a success or failure based on just one thing.”

That being said, James added:

“We all want it. We want it for ourselves, and we want it for Hannah, because she deserves to be there.”

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com