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WNBA · 14 hours ago

Sophie Cunningham opens up about her dating life, revealing the ‘intimidating’ reason men rarely approach her

Ishika Dadhwal, author

Ishika Dadhwal

Host · Writer

Sophie Cunningham doesn't lack for attention when it comes to her rising profile in the WNBA. Getting asked out, though? That's apparently a completely different story.

Basketball players get ranked on plenty outside their game, and looks are no exception. A list called "Baller Babes" ranks the 25 most attractive women in the league right now, and Cunningham doesn't sit somewhere in the middle of it. She's number one.

You'd think a spot like that would mean guys are lining up. Cunningham says otherwise, and she explained exactly why during a recent appearance on the "Like a Farmer" podcast.

The podcast is filmed inside a boot store in Scottsdale, and one segment has guests pull folded questions out of an actual cowboy boot sitting on the table. Cunningham's question asked about her worst first date.

Before she got anywhere near answering it, she cleared something up first.

"People don't come up to me. I don't really go on dates," she said.

She ultimately never answered the original question, tossing the slip of paper back to host Pat Spinosa instead. He didn't push the date story, but he did want to know why nobody approaches her in the first place. That, she was willing to get into.

Why Sophie Cunningham Says She Gives Off An "Intimidating Vibe"

Cunningham's claim isn't something she came up with on her own. It matches what people close to her, including guy friends she's had since kindergarten, have told her for years.

Their theory is that she comes across as being on a kind of pedestal, one that makes her feel out of reach before anyone even talks to her.

"I think I just maybe give off, like, an intimidating vibe," the Missouri native said.

Spend more than a few minutes around her, though, and that read apparently changes fast. By her own friends' account, she's actually "the biggest freaking dweeb anyone will ever meet."

Height might play a part in the perception, too. Cunningham stands 6-foot-1, well above the average American man's height of roughly 5-foot-9, and she's said before she won't date anyone shorter than her.

Spinosa saw some truth in her explanation, though he framed it differently. He pointed to how she was raised and the kind of person that upbringing produced.

"She's one of us, and the fact of how you were raised, who raised you, where you grew up, like the s—t that you would do for fun," he said.

Cunningham has also been open about preferring "more of a manly man," which lines up with the height requirement. Her last confirmed relationship dates back to 2020, when she was linked to Missouri State two-sport athlete Jakob Neidig. She was later tied to Grand Canyon University athletic trainer Frank Adams, though that connection was never confirmed.

These days, Cunningham's profile has only grown since joining Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever in 2025, bringing endorsement deals, a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue feature, and plenty more public interest in her personal life along with it. For now, at least by her own telling, that interest still isn't translating into anyone actually shooting their shot.