The world of professional sports has a funny way of making things work out just in the nick of time.
One day you are a collegiate star, the next you are wondering what’s next, and finally, you get your shot at the next level.
That is the exact case with Hannah Stuelke. The former star forward of the Iowa Hawkeyes wrapped up her career in Iowa City this past March and was about to move on from basketball until things flipped upside down in a hurry.
Hannah Stuelke is headed to Italy
After four seasons with the Hawkeyes, Hannah Stuelke was waiting for her chance to continue playing basketball. That chance came in the form of a contract with Broni in the Serie A1 league of Italian women’s professional basketball.
Advertisement
Things almost didn’t end up this way, though. Hannah Stuelke, when speaking with KCRG-TV9, a news outlet covering Iowa City, admitted she had accepted moving on from basketball.
“At first, I decided I was going to be done, actually. Then they reached out, and it felt like a good fit for me. The timing was really good. It was kind of like a God moment. Everything kind of fell into place,” Stuelke said of how things worked out.
“I have been talking to the coach a little bit. We will run an offense kind of similar to the one we ran at Iowa this past year. I’m just excited to get over there and be somewhere new. I have been in Iowa my whole life,” Stuelke added about the next steps in her professional career.
Stuelke brings great experience overseas, having played for the Hawkeyes for four years, which included being a big part of the Hawkeyes’ runs to back-to-back Final Fours.
The Cedar Rapids native ended her career at Iowa with 1,565 points, 910 rebounds, and helped lead Iowa to a 115-30 record during her career.
Advertisement
Iowa women’s basketball’s professional success
Hannah Stuelke continues a lineage of Iowa women’s basketball stars in the last decade making their way to the professional ranks with success.
Headlined by Caitlin Clark, the Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball program has turned into a sort of pipeline of talent, with 19 players making it to the WNBA since the league’s inception.
Other former Iowa stars who have made their way to the WNBA in the last few seasons, amid this blossoming era of Iowa basketball, include Megan Gustafson, Kate Martin, Lucy Olsen, and Monika Czinano.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/iowa as Iowa Women’s Basketball Star Hannah Stuelke Details Path to Pros.
