Ex-Iowa State women's basketball star Stephanie Soares makes WNBA's Dallas Wings roster

Former Iowa State women's basketball star Stephanie Soares has made the Dallas Wings' roster for the 2024 WNBA season, the team announced on Monday.

Soares is one of 11 women to make the cut for the organization. The Wings begin their season at home against the Chicago Sky at 7 p.m. CT Wednesday.

The 6-foot-6 center/forward was selected by the Washington Mystics with the fourth overall pick in the 2023 draft and then was immediately traded to the Dallas Wings. Soares became the highest-selected Cyclone in WNBA history, passing Alison Lacey, who was taken with the 10th overall pick by the Seattle Storm in 2010.

Soares sat out all of 2023 because of a torn ACL she suffered in her 13th and final game at ISU. She averaged 14.4 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game before the injury, production that skyrocketed her up draft boards after flying under the radar early in her career while playing the first four years of college basketball at The Master’s, an NAIA school in California.

Soares tried to get a waiver from the NCAA to play another season but it was denied, so she entered the WNBA Draft.

Although Soares couldn't play in 2023, she worked as a graduate assistant with the Cyclones and helped mentor freshman star center Audi Crooks.

Gus Martin is a Digital Producer/Content Director for The Des Moines Register. Follow him on X at @GusMartin_DMR.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Ex-Iowa State star Stephanie Soares makes WNBA's Dallas Wings roster