“All of our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” The Iowa Hawkeyes forward Hannah Stuelke made a special name for herself when she besotted 47 points against the Penn State Lady Lions. She personified the quote and is a walking example of what can happen when one decides to give their best.

The feat was astounding since it came in the presence of one of the best players the Hawkeyes have witnessed in generations to come- Caitlin Clark. While Clark could only throttle 27, it was Stuelke who upped the ante. And the credit for it goes to her parents and childhood coach, who saw in her, during her childhood, the champion that she is today.

Who are Hannah Stuelke’s parents?

As per ZGR, Hannah Stuelke’s parents’ name is JoAnna Stuelke Mantz and Mario Davis. Born on July 10, 2003 in Cedar Rapids Iowa, Hannah was drawn to basketball from a young age – much thanks to the efforts of her father. Davis belongs to Golden Grove, Antigua, and was a student at Princess Margaret Secondary School. He went onto get his degree from the Missouri Western State University. 

Her mother JoAnna Stuelke plies her trade as a Children’s Ministry Director at River of Life Church. She is a fairly religious woman who tries to spread the discourse of the Bible among children, making its lessons accessible to all. She also helps parents take their children on a spiritual path from a young age. Other than that, JoAnna is also interested in sewing and crafting. Her mom used to play basketball at Illinois State and Missouri Western.

It is said that Hannah got her height from her mother who is 6 feet 1 inch tall. JoAnna met Mario at the Missouri Western University. It was her parents who instilled in her the competitive spirit needed for basketball. And that has helped her turn into an excellent athlete. JoAnna also looked to counsel her kid for any obstacles in her path and has always been a strong pillar of support in her life.

After splitting up with her husband, JoAnna Mantz got married to Michael Mantz when Hannah was only a toddler in 2006. As per the same source, she has shared pictures of the event on her Facebook. The couple got through their vows in the presence of family and close friends. Michael is known to be an exceptional woodworker. He created many beautiful pieces for Hannah when she was a kid. Thus, Hannah shares a close relationship with her father. According to reports, her mother had also shared their picture on social media.

As per the same source, Hannah’s original father Davis is also extremely happy with his daughter’s accomplishments and posts about them on social media. He remarried post splitting up with his wife and currently has another daughter from his other wife. Hannah had shown sparks of brilliance even during her high school.

How were Hannah’s early years?

Hannah attended the Washington High School where she was named Gatorade Player of the Year during her senior year. She also proved her mettle when playing for the All-Iowa Attack. It was there that she was coached by Dickson Jensen. Previously Hannah was interested in multiple sports. She played volleyball and track and field apart from having exemplary balling moves.

She earned all-conference honorable mention honors in volleyball, discus, and 100 meters. Thus, Stuelke had since her childhood made it clear that she was destined to make a career in sports and had a bright future. However, her expertise did not end only in sports.

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She passed her exams with flying colors. She also bagged the Science and Math awards at Washington along with the foreign language award. It proves that Hannah was a prodigy during her childhood and has been outstanding since the onset of her schooling days. And her true achievements came when she chose the Iowa Hawkeyes for her graduation program.

How has Hannah performed in college?

Being on the court for an average of 12.9 minutes per game, Hannah stood atop the minutes played table for freshmen during the 2022-23 season. She showed that she was made of legend stuff by scoring 10 points in her debut game against the Southern Jaguars. In the next game against the Evansville Purple Aces, Stuelke again touched double figures by scoring 14 points.

Another noteworthy thing was that she was doing pretty well in rebounds too. While in the first game, she nabbed 6 rebounds, in the next one she did 8. This established her as both an offensive and defensive player. She smashed her first double-double against the Purdue Boilermakers by smoking 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Apart from that, she reached double figures almost 11 times in that year.

One of her best points performance came against the Northwestern Wildcats when she thrashed a season-high 17 points against them. She was also close to a double-double but missed it by one rebound since she had grabbed 9 in the process. Her career-best rebound game came against the Ohio State Buckeyes when she seized 13. This established her as a credible player in the Hawkeyes’ lineup.

During the 2023-24 season, the first time she was in the starting five was in the opening game against the FDU. Even in this season, she came close to her career-best rebounds of 13 when she nabbed the exact same number against the Cleveland State Vikings. This also marked her second career double-double. She had previously rebounded 11 against the Kansas State Wildcats, but could only score 9 points. Her on-song performances in points continued when she decimated 21 against the Wisconsin Badgers and 20 against the Loyola Chicago Ramblers.

And now with her 47-point performance, she has definitely shaken the NCAA world and displayed that the team can have another alpha apart from Clark. Hopefully, Stuelke will continue her brilliance and be an asset to the team in the games to come.

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