Stephanie Soares owns one of the more fascinating stories of the 2023 WNBA Draft class.
Soares, who is from Sao Paulo, Brazil, played at an NAIA school, The Master’s University in Santa Clarita, California, for three seasons before exposing herself to the national spotlight by transferring to Iowa State this past season.
She didn’t go to the NAIA because she was under the radar; she was the No. 53 HoopGurlz recruit in 2018. On The Master’s’ athletic website, she is quoted as saying:
(I wanted to play) for a team and coach that honor God. As a Christian, I know that God is the most important person in my life and having a relationship with Him is essential in life. My desire is to play basketball, grow in my faith by increasing my Bible knowledge and earn a college degree.
It’s admirable that Soares followed her faith, and she had quite the career at The Master’s, a school that her father and two of her siblings also played basketball at.
Soares was homeschooled, but played basketball for Mount Baker High School in Deming, Washington, where she won a Class 1A state title in 2017. She then became an NAIA First Team All-American right off the bat as a freshman at The Master’s. She was first in the entire NAIA in both rebounding (13.4 boards per game) and blocks…
