Stephanie Soares ready to be back on the court in WNBA after Iowa State career cut short

ARLINGTON, Texas — On the court, Stephanie Soares’ time at Iowa State wasn’t as lengthy as she’d hoped it would be.

During the 2022-23 women’s basketball season, Soares started 13 games for the Cyclones, averaging 15.4 points and 10.8 rebounds with eight double-doubles before sustaining an ACL injury on Jan. 8, 2023 at Oklahoma, ending her season and collegiate career.

But that wasn’t it for her in Ames.

Longtime ISU head coach Bill Fennelly brought her back as a graduate assistant, which allowed her to delve into coaching while also practicing with the team and rehabbing her knee.

The fourth pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft by Washington, which traded her rights to Dallas for two draft picks, Soares, 24, signed with the Wings in February and recently started training camp with them.

“Feel really good. It’s been a long ways coming, it was a lot of work put in at Iowa State,” she said after a recent practice.

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“Thankful for everyone getting in the gym with me that helped me throughout the year. Coach Fen asked me to come on and I was able to help the team, practice and train. It was awesome to be around that team. That freshman class, they are amazing not just on the court but off the court too, they’re just great people. I loved getting to know them.”

Her coach in Dallas is Latricia Trammell, a head coach in high school and college before serving as a WNBA assistant. Before last season, the Wings hired her as head coach, and she led Dallas to the playoffs in Year 1. And Trammell, who also works as a TV broadcaster in the offseason calling women’s games, many of those in the Big 12, views Soares as a big asset to her roster.

“I got to see her in person this past season when she was a GA and she was looking at the game through different eyes, a coach’s perspective. Iowa State did a phenomenal job,” Trammell said. “Their medical staff, I think it’s one of the best. Her comeback has been absolutely amazing.

“She doesn’t even look like she’s had two ACL tears. It says a lot about that young lady, too, to want to come back after two ACLs and the impact she’s making already in camp. She’s an impressive young lady.”

Before her time at ISU, Soares starred at The Master’s University, an NAIA school in California, where she was a two-time Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. She also earned NAIA Player of the Year honors.

It also was there that she suffered her first knee injury, an ACL/MCL tear that kept her off the court for the 2020-2021 season.

So, by the time she sustained a similar injury at ISU, she knew what to expect in terms of the rehab and recovery process. Despite being new to the Cyclones, Soares credits everyone in Ames for making her immediately feel part of the Cyclone family.

“It’s awfully hard to be off the floor, but they made my time (there) special,” she said. “Sometimes you feel lonely when you’re on your own, but they were always there to pick me up. They helped me every day get through workouts and stuff.

“It felt like I was there (in Ames) for a very long time because you know the community so well, the people and the coaches. They brought me in as family. They’re my family now, especially because my family is really far away in Brazil. I consider them family and will always be part of Cyclone Nation.”

Soares has only been around Trammell and her staff for a short time, but already she’s noticed the championship culture the second-year Wings head coach has built in Dallas.

“She’s for sure changed the mentality, the culture, everything about it,” Soares said. “She focuses not only on the offensive side, but the defensive side, the little things like getting rebounds, taking a charge, those little things that will change the game.”

That respect is clearly mutual.

“We went and worked her out during this process. I’ve seen where she was during her rehab and she looked amazing,” Trammell said. “I know she’s going to have a great season. It will be the first time she’s stepped into a WNBA game and there’s going to be that learning curve, but what we’ve seen so far in practice with her length, her versatility to play multiple positions and also defend multiple positions, that makes her that little X-factor that we lost in Awak (Kuier) not coming over (to the WNBA this season).”

At 6-foot-6, Soares is one of Dallas’ tallest players along with Kalani Brown and Teaira McCowan, who are both 6-7, a group she’s not only happy to be part of, but two veterans she intends on learning everything she can from.

“For me, it’s awesome because I’m able to feel short almost (around them). Just being able to learn from them, how they’re able to use their bodies and their length, it’s awesome to watch,” Soares said. “They (the coaches) talk about my length defensively, offensively being able to stretch out the court, being a five that can stretch the floor, those little things.”

Soares might only be starting her professional playing career, but she admits if the opportunity to coach again presents itself in the future, she’d definitely be receptive.

“For sure, yeah. I do enjoy working with kids. Maybe if that’s here or even in Brazil (that does interest me),” she said.

Stephen Hunt is a freelance writer based in Frisco, Texas.