Stanford women's basketball is not backing down. Despite dealing with a major roster exodus as several key players have entered the transfer portal and have found new homes, the Cardinal are still prepared to do whatever it takes to put together a roster that is capable of bringing the team back to greatness.
This week, the Cardinal signed a player who fills a very big need with the departure of Nunu Agara at forward, bringing in Ilse de Vries from Miami-Ohio.
A 6-foot-3 sophomore, de Vries gives the Cardinal more size and physicality in the frontcourt, an area that they have struggled in the past few seasons.
Miami RedHawks forward Ilse de Vries (21) and Miami RedHawks forward Amber Tretter (15) block Ohio Bobcats forward Elli Garnett (8) in the first quarter of the NCAA Basketball game at Millett Hall in Oxford, Ohio, on Saturday, January 31, 2026. | Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
A native of Groningen, Netherlands, the former four-star prospect averaged 12.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks while starting all 35 games for Miami (OH) this past season, earning third-team All-MAC honors and MAC All-Defensive team honors. She also boasts a 49.4% field goal percentage and shot 38.6% from three.
A two-time team captain at Calandlyceum High School in the Netherlands, de Vries averaged 7.3 points and 6.0 rebounds as a junior and developed nicely during her prep career. Joining Miami (OH) and earning a big role right out of the gate, de Vries played in 29 games with 27 starts as a true freshman, and averaged 4.8 points and 3.1 rebounds.
de Vries' improvement from her freshman season to her sophomore year is one that caught Stanford's attention, and now the program hopes she can improve even more with them in her first year on The Farm.
Losing players like Lara Somfai and Harper Peterson, the Cardinal were very thin both in size and the forward position this offseason.
With an already young roster, signing a player with experience in high-leverage situations was a priority for this program, as they now add veteran presence. de Vries is expected to have a big role for the Cardinal this season, most likely as a starter, and will get the chance to show how good she is at the Power Four level.
While the Cardinal have historically produced elite forwards/centers -most notably Cameron Brink-recent seasons have seen the Cardinal struggle to be physical in the middle, lacking the size that other programs have.
With De Vries on the roster, in addition to incoming freshman Kiara Green and transfer Ines Sotelo, the Cardinal have added enough height this offseason to give them more players on the 2026-27 roster above 6-foot-3 than they had last year. That will come in handy in a tough Atlantic Coast Conference.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/stanford as Stanford Women's Basketball is Going Big, Literally .
