Slam dunk for love! Moment Iowa's star 6ft 7in basketball player's boyfriend proposed to her in front of thousands of fans

Iowa State Cyclones basketball player Anna Prins had a game to remember on Sunday, not only did her team score a resounding victory but to cap things off boyfriend Ryan De Hamer surprised her with a marriage proposal in front of thousands of fans.

Prins, who at six-foot-seven inches is the tallest women’s basketball player in Iowa State history, has been dating De Hamer since they met during her freshman year at ISU three years ago.
De Hamer hatched his clever plan several weeks ago after regularly being teased by Prin’s teammates about when he might propose to his girlfriend.

Oh no what's happening? Anna Prins is initially confused after boyfriend Ryan appears on the court

Shock turns to joy: Prins quickly realizes that her boyfriend is about to propose to her in front of 7,000 people

Proposal: Ryan De Hamer asks his girlfriend to be his wife and produces an engagement ring

After deciding that midcourt at the team's Hilton Coliseum would be the perfect place to make his proposal, he approached Cyclones coach Bill Fennelly for his permission and his help to make it happen.
During the second half of Sunday’s game against Alabama State, it was announced that fans should remain in their seats after the final buzzer for a short ceremony.

The vast majority of the 7,013 crowd stayed behind following the Cyclones' 86-47 victory.

 

Once the player took to their seats after postgame handshakes, Fennelly grabbed a microphone and walked to midcourt while De Hamer remained out of sight.

The coach then thanked the fans for their support and spoke briefly about the importance of family before saying what a pleasure it was to have Prins in the Cyclones’ family. 

At that point, De Hamer started to walk out onto the court and Prins realized what was happening.

Prins also walked to midcourt, and after pumping up the crowd, De Hamer produced a diamond ring and dropped to one knee.

The happy couple: Anna and Ryan have been dating for three years

What a sparkler: Anna Prins shows off her stunning engagement ring

The crowd cheered wildly as Prins said ‘yes’ and was immediately surrounded by her overjoyed teammates who rushed on to the court to congratulate the happy couple.

‘I did not expect that at all,’ Prins told . ‘He was very sneaky. I was super shocked, but I’m so thankful Ryan decided to do it in Hilton, because that’s just going to be a special memory, having coach be a part of it and my teammates.’

The proposal came with many of the couple’s family members in attendance. De Hamer graduated from Iowa State last year and now resides in Ames, where he works as a photographer.

Afterwards Coach Fennelly joked that the bar has now been set pretty high for the rest of the team's boyfriends. 

‘There are certain things in life that are more important than basketball. And that's one of those moments that we'll always remember and it's exciting for them,' he told a press conference after the game.

At six-foot-seven inches, Anna is the tallest female basketball player in Iowa State history