Shanele Stires

Shanele Stires
Cal Poly Mustangs
Position	Head coach
League	Big West Conference
Personal information
Born	May 21, 1972 (age 52); Junction City, Kansas
Listed height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Listed weight	170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
High school	Salina Central ; (Salina, Kansas)
College	Cloud County CC (1991–1992); Kansas State (1992–1995);
WNBA draft	2000: 4th round, 56th overall pick
	Selected by the Minnesota Lynx
Playing career	1996–2002
Position	Forward
Number	3
Coaching career	2003–present
Career history
As player:
1996–1999	Columbus Quest
2000–2002	Minnesota Lynx
As coach:
2003–2006	Ohio (assistant)
2006–2008	San Francisco (assistant)
2008–2010	San Diego State (assistant)
2010–2011	Stetson (assistant)
2011–2012	Nebraska–Omaha (assistant)
2012–2014	San Francisco (assistant)
2014–2016	San Francisco (associate HC)
2016–2022	Cal State East Bay
2022–present	Cal Poly
Career highlights and awards
	First-team All-Big 8 (1995);
Career WNBA statistics
Points	92 (1.9 ppg)
Rebounds	47 (1.0 rpg)
Assists	22 (0.5 apg)
	Stats at Basketball Reference

Shanele Marie Stires (born May 21, 1972) is an American retired professional women's basketball player and current college basketball coach.

Career

She is the head coach of the Cal Poly women's basketball team since April 2022.^[1]

Stires attended Cloud County Community College during her freshman year before transferring to Kansas State University,^[2] where she graduated in 1995 with a B.S. degree in Social Science. With Kansas State, Stires scored 1,344 career points, and as a senior was selected for Kodak All-America honorable mention and All-Big 8 First Team accolades.^[3]

She started her American professional career playing for the Columbus Quest in the now-defunct American Basketball League (ABL). After the ABL ceased operations, she joined the Women's National Basketball Association and played for the Minnesota Lynx for three seasons after being drafted with the 56th overall pick in 2000.^[4]

After her playing career she served three years as an assistant coach for the women's basketball team at Ohio University. In August 2006, she was named as an assistant coach at University of San Francisco. Stires also pursued a Master's Degree in Coaching Education from Ohio University.

Stires served as head coach for Cal State East Bay, coaching the Pioneers to their first-ever Division II NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance in 2022.

Her brother, Sean Stires, is a play-by-play radio announcer for the University of Notre Dame's women's basketball team.


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1992–93	Kansas State	27	-	-	41.3	24.1	66.7	9.0	2.2	2.0	0.3	-	13.4
1993–94	Kansas State	27	-	-	47.3	33.0	75.4	8.7	2.4	2.2	0.0	-	17.1
1994–95	Kansas State	27	-	-	47.8	34.3	68.8	8.3	1.9	2.0	0.1	-	19.3
Career		81	-	-	45.7	32.4	70.3	8.7	2.2	2.1	0.1	-	16.6
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.^[5]

^ Wilson, Nick (April 15, 2022). "Cal Poly hires women's basketball coach with WNBA experience". The San Luis Obispo Tribune. pp. 3B.
^ Johnson, Trey (October 24, 1994). "Stires helps Cats strive: Senior is leader of women's team". The Kansas City Star. pp. C5.
^ K-State Women's Basketball 2023-24 Media Guide. Kansas State University. 2023. p. 108.
^ Minnesota Lynx 2019 Media Guide. Minnesota Lynx. 2019. p. 129.
^ "Shanele Stires College Stats". Sports-Reference. Retrieved July 7, 2024.