Vienna, Austria, is known to its residents as the city of dreams.

The nickname is fitting where former ISU basketball standout Hallie Christofferson is concerned, as she will head overseas in September to do something that she said stretches beyond anything she has ever imagined — playing professional basketball.

“Honestly, I did not have a goal beyond college basketball because I did not know I would have the capability to continue playing,” Christofferson said. “Everything from here on out is just another blessing. I am taking it day by day and whatever happens, happens.”

Christofferson, who was an All Big 12 first-team selection three times during her time at Iowa State, will continue her basketball career in the Austrian Women’s League as a member of the Flying Foxes.

She received the news from her agent after spending two weeks in Phoenix with that city’s WNBA franchise, the Phoenix Mercury.

“The season ended and I did not know what was going to happen,” Christofferson said. “Then I got an opportunity to go down and tryout with Phoenix. When they cut their roster down, I was one of those who got cut and so I came back to Ames. I did not know what was going to happen.”

ISU women’s head basketball coach Bill Fennelly has great respect for his former star’s game, but he said he was not very surprised that Christofferson was cut from the tryouts because of both the WNBA’s competitiveness and the shortage of employment opportunities that exists there.

“It is a tough league to make. They only hold 11 players and there are only 12 teams, so there is just not a lot of jobs available,” Fennelly said. “I was surprised she did not get drafted, but making a team if you are not a first round pick is borderline impossible in that league.”

Fennelly was an active participant in the process of Christofferson finding her way to the Austrian pro league and acknowledged that the Phoenix tryout probably helped her in that regard.

He added that it will likely help her later down the road if she aspires to again tryout for the WNBA.

As for now, Christofferson is preparing in Ames and utilizing Iowa State’s facilities to lift weights and work on her game, which she said is actually more suited for the new European style of play in which she will soon be participating.

“That [European] style of play is not as physical as it is here, but I think that will work to my advantage,” Christofferson said. “I am more of a face-up player than a back-to-the-basket player, so that will be something I will use. I will just keep working on the stuff that has gotten me this far.”

Christofferson was a use-as-needed type of player her entire career at Iowa State, playing power forward her first two seasons, moving to small forward in her junior year and finishing out her career as the team’s center during the 2013-14 season.

“She has great versatility for a kid with some size,” Fennelly said. “She can score in a variety of ways. She can shoot 3s, post up and she is a great free-throw shooter. Her versatility offensively has made her a really good player at this point throughout her collegiate career.”

Christofferson signed a one-year deal to play for the Flying Foxes, from which she will return in April 2015 and reassess her options at that point.

For now, the standout basketball player from rural Hanlan, Iowa, said she is simply excited for what comes next and for the opportunity to travel to another country for the first time in her life.

“I have heard [Austria] is beautiful and have only heard other good things about it so far,” Christofferson said. “It should be a lot of fun to explore, so I am looking forward to getting familiar with all of that. Anywhere in Europe is somewhere I would like to see because I have never been anywhere [over] there.”

Christofferson will play most of her games in Austria but may travel to Slovakia for an occasional contest. She said she was more concerned with the safety of the area to which she would be heading than she was with the financial details of her contract. She added that she feels comfortable with the situation in which she now finds herself.

“[The Flying Foxes] were really excited about Hallie and they really thought she fit their club,” Fennelly said. “I think she is going into a situation that is really good for her both personally and professionally, and that is what we really tried to look for in the options that she had.”

As for Fennelly and the ISU program, they are left to try and replace the substantial hole in the team’s lineup due to the departure of Christofferson.

“It is really hard because not only was she our best player, but was a kid that really represented the Iowa State way,” Fennelly said. “She was a great student, a great player and a great teammate. That is hard to replace and we do not have any single player who can replace her.

“Hopefully three or four people combined can add up to Hallie’s [contributions]. I am more worried about the off the court presence. The points and rebounds, you can find that somewhere. It is the [intangibles] which will be the hardest to replace.”