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Izabel Varejão’s college career appeared to be finished after Syracuse’s 72-64 loss to UConn in last year’s NCAA Tournament. She’d planned to call it quits after completing her fifth season. Then, second thoughts kicked in.

After transferring to SU from Michigan, Varejão’s first season with the Orange was rocky. She suffered a concussion and later, appendicitis, missing 14 games. She wanted a stronger finish to her college career.

So, on April 1, Varejão posted a picture with head coach Felisha Legette-Jack on Instagram. She was coming back for a sixth year.

“Decided to keep smiling like this one more year! No, it’s not an April Fools joke,” the caption read.

Varejão is now amid her best Division I season, dropping 9.0 points per game on 49.2% shooting while averaging 5.3 rebounds through eight games. Though to get to this point, Varejão weathered numerous challenges.

As a 14-year-old high schooler, Varejão moved from her hometown of Vitória-Espírito Santo, Brazil, to Raleigh, North Carolina. She committed to Michigan four years later but rarely played and missed her sophomore season due to COVID-19 lockdowns in Brazil. After averaging 3.9 points off the bench as a junior and senior, Varejão has rejuvenated her career at SU.

“It can be scary when you go through college for five years and every year something happens to you,” Varejão said. “But I’m just confident, and I know my teammates and coaches got my back.”

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Varejão started playing basketball for Italio Brasileiro, a small local team before falling in love with the sport at ADC Bradesco, a bigger club. At Bradesco, Varejão played for the Brazilian Under-16 and Under-18 teams. While there, she met Eric Hemming, head coach of the AAU Carolina Waves.

Hemming was in Brazil to talk with other national team players about attending high school in the U.S. Varejão was already considering the idea and expressed her interest to Hemming. She mainly wanted to improve her English, which was at a seventh-grade level.

“It wasn’t about basketball. It was about, ‘Can I get a good education and learn English?’” Hemming said of Varejão.

Varejão’s teammates played in North Carolina, so Hemming originally placed her at Friendship Christian High School in the Raleigh suburbs. Then, after switching host families, Varejão settled at nearby Neuse Christian High School with two of her Brazilian teammates.

Adjusting to America was challenging. Brazilians are warm and love to hug and kiss. When Varejão arrived in North Carolina, she realized Americans were more reserved. She also struggled with American cuisine, but came to love soul food — fried chicken, mac and cheese and cornbread.

However, Varejão’s transition to the court was seamless. The Lions finished 27-1 her sophomore year and won the National Christian School Athletic Association Championship in 2017. But Varejão wasn’t done. She averaged 14.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks as a junior. Her playstyle also fit into Neuse Christian head coach Shane Wilder’s game plan of playing fast, and keeping opponents off balance.

“I loved to run the court super fast and try to get them out front,” Wilder said. “Izabel got rebounds, shot them out and we were down the court and scored, many times one-on-one or a simple layup with nobody there yet.”

Varejão’s performances attracted recruiters from across the country. Offers flooded in from Duke, North Carolina, NC State, Virginia, BYU and Michigan. She chose the Wolverines because of the program and school’s prestigious reputation.

Upon arriving in Ann Arbor, Varejão continued thriving as a freshman in 2019. She logged 14.2 minutes per game while averaging 5.4 points. But it was the highest volume she’d received in four years there.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Varejão traveled back to Brazil to stay with her family. However, her visa expired. It was impossible to apply for a new one due to quarantine restrictions, locking her out of the U.S. She couldn’t build off her strong opening campaign, missing her entire sophomore year.

“I just remember being like, this was my chance, my time to get back and play really well, so at first I felt like that’s it,” Varejão said.

Still, she didn’t give in. Without open gyms, Varejão — the niece of retired NBA player Anderson Varejão — practiced on a hoop in her driveway and traveled to her family’s beach house to work out on full courts. When lockdowns were lifted, she began working with a trainer at her former middle school.

Varejão played sparingly off the bench as a junior and senior. She considered quitting but wanted to end on a high note. That’s when Varejão received a call from Legette-Jack about coming to Syracuse.

At first, Varejão was surprised to hear from Legette-Jack. But after just one conversation, she knew she’d get a fair shot with the Orange. In May 2023, Varejão committed to SU.

“I​​t’s kind of profound how we got her,” Legette-Jack said. “She was at Michigan, it didn’t work out, went home for a little bit, and then she just got the itch to play again, and now decided that Syracuse was going to be a place that she comes to play.”

Just eight games in, Varejão was hit hard again. In December, she took a charge in practice. The Brazilian tried to dodge the hit but instead fell awkwardly, hitting her head on the hardwood.

Varejão was diagnosed with a concussion. She battled constant blurry vision and dizziness for a month, keeping her out of practice.

“It was very frustrating, because I feel like it should be shorter,” Varejão said. “I wasn’t seeing results, but I couldn’t control it, so I was just being patient, trying to get back as soon as I could.”

Along with strength and conditioning workouts, Varejão worked with a therapist to restore her eyesight and balance. She returned to practice in January and was reinstated on Feb. 8 against Georgia Tech. The fifth-year senior made an immediate impact, tallying 13 points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes.

Izabel Varejão gets helped up after drawing a foul against then-No. 11 Maryland. Angelina Grevi | Staff Photographer

Seven games after returning, though, Varejão contracted appendicitis. Overcome with pain, she underwent immediate surgery and missed the ACC Tournament.

“I’m glad we caught it early,” Varejão said. “I didn’t have to go through it for too long. Some people find out late, but thankfully my pain elevated quickly. I couldn’t tolerate it anymore before (my appendix) burst.”

After the Orange’s first-round exit to Florida State, Varejão focused on returning for the NCAA Tournament. Despite only a 15-day layoff, she appeared in SU’s two games. But she was ineffective playing through pain in limited minutes.

Just six days later, Varejão announced her return to the Orange. And with Alyssa Latham transferring out, the seasoned veteran became SU’s starting center.

In the past, Varejão’s biggest weakness was her availability. But she’s been healthy for the entirety of Syracuse’s season thus far, which hasn’t occurred since her high school days. After five years of setbacks, Varejão is finally shining on the college court.

“If we keep (Varejão) healthy, I think you’re going to realize that I’m not just throwing words out to say, ‘Oh, that sounded good for a press conference,’” Legette-Jack said. “I’ve been around the game for 37 years. She’s a pro.”

Published on December 3, 2024 at 8:40 pm

Contact Noah: njnussba@syr.edu