Jan Jensen opens new era for Iowa women’s basketball

At media day on Thursday, new head coach Jan Jensen addressed the adjustment of the upcoming season without guard Cailtin Clark and coach Lisa Bluder. Clark, who broke nearly every scoring record during her four years as a Hawkeye, is now breaking records in the WNBA. Bluder led Iowa with Jensen as her top assistant for 24 years before retiring in May. She is now enjoying her time off with her family, going to WNBA games and hobnobbing with the likes of comedian David Letterman and tennis legend Billie Jean King. 

Now, Jensen is the head Hawk, named head coach the same day as Bluder’s retirement was announced. 

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“A lot of people asked me what’s different, and I say nothing, but in some ways everything,” Jensen told reporters Thursday. “We talked a lot about ‘we got next.’ I think we’re just all focused on the future. It’s definitely exciting. The buzz is in the air.”

Iowa recently announced that general public seating is sold out at Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the second consecutive season.

Jensen described the moment finding out as one of the most memorable in her longtime coaching career.  

“There’s been a few moments I’ve had in my personal coaching profession, dating way back to Drake, early years here, later years here,” she said. “When they called and said, ‘hey, they’re sold out,’ that was a moment. It’s a testament to all that was and really a testament to this fan base of their belief in not only what was but I think what can be. That kind of thinking is right up my alley…for the fans to be as excited as they were a year ago about such a young and rebuilding and youthful perspective, that is just really cool.”

“We want to live up to that respect, so we’re working like crazy. We want to continue to put a really great fun team on the floor,” she added. “I don’t know if we needed the extra motivation, but I certainly know my staff and I want to make sure everybody continues to have a really great experience when they come to Carver.”

With six new players on the roster, including five freshmen, Jensen realizes it will be a challenge to replace the leadership and experience of key players Clark, Kate Martin, Gabbie Marshall and Molly Davis.  

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“I think Caitlin is rare and Caitlin is special…but anytime you lose a very senior-heavy class, or maybe I should say experienced class, there’s just a gap for a while,” Jensen said. “I don’t care how great that freshman class is coming in. There’s no speedy trick for experience. You just have to fall on your face a few times. You have to make a few mistakes.”

“So, what we’ll miss about the last era is that experience and what it feels like to go into Maryland, what it feels like to come off of a loss, what it feels like to be great, and to know what it feels like and to expect it again and again and again,” she added. “Caitlin’s ability to empower those around her, to believe in what possibly the others didn’t think possible, that’s what you’ll miss initially.”

The Hawkeyes rebuilt in 2019-20 after their first National Player of the Year Megan Gustafson led them to their first Elite Eight since 1993. Fellow seniors Hannah Stewart and Tania Davis, who is now on the Iowa coaching staff, were on that team, too.

Led by 2020 Big Ten Player of the Year Kathleen Doyle, the Hawkeyes exceeded expectations that season. Iowa went 23-7 and was likely to host the first two rounds of the Tournament before COVID halted the season. 

“You can’t do what we do if you’re so fixated on the experience, because Megan didn’t get experience without our opportunity to get to coach her up, and Caitlin didn’t become Caitlin and Kate didn’t become Kate and Gabbie and all the others without the ability to coach them up and all the challenges you have along the way,” Jensen said. 

“It’s so easy to look back on the last three or four years and say, ‘oh my gosh, that was awesome.’ Well, there were some times where it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, are we ever going to get this figured out?’ But that’s the beauty of what coaching is,” she added. “So yes, we will miss all of that. But my staff and I are so excited about the next chapter and trying to do it all again in a different way that we don’t spend much time on what we’re missing. We’re just really focused on, ‘man, look at what we’ve got.’”

The next chapter

While the Hawkeyes have two starters returning from their record-breaking 34-win season which ended with a loss to South Carolina in the championship, the duo has yet to practice together this offseason.

Junior forward Hannah Stuelke is recovering from an injury from the exhibition game at Kinnick Stadium last fall. Senior guard Sydney Affolter recently underwent a surgical scope of her knee. Stuelke has returned to practice after missing much of the summer, while Affolter is expected to return in early November. 

Junior Taylor McCabe and senior Kylie Feuerbach are ready for their chance in the spotlight. 

“As much as they would have loved another year like we had, another year with Caitlin, they’re also really ready for their time and clearly understood that they wouldn’t trade any second of the past,” Jensen said. “But now they get a shot to take the shot. They get an opportunity to be the one that’s the key stopper. They have leaned in beautifully, they have a different level of confidence, and they’re competing.”

Iowa landed one of the top prospects in the transfer portal, senior guard Lucy Olsen from Villanova. She was third in the country in scoring (23.3 ppg) behind Clark and USC’s JuJu Watkins last season. She also earned Honorable Mention All-American honors and Most Improved Player Award accolades in the Big East. 

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Olsen has been building chemistry with her new teammates by scrimaging with them over the summer. She expects the Big Ten to be more physical than the Big East. 

“The physicality is definitely a lot stronger, faster pace. Big East, I feel like it was a little slower,” she said. “And also, the Big East doesn’t have a big post, a lot of small forwards, but that’s been an adjustment, too.”

The crowd size in Carver-Hawkeye Arena will also be an adjustment. 

“At Villanova I think our stadium held like 6,000 and maybe we sold it out like once or twice. I still can’t even believe this place is sold out. I look around every day and I’m like, all those seats, that’s great,” she said. “Coach J made a big deal about it. She had us walk up the stairs. It was like, ‘all these seats, people are coming to see you. They don’t have to. So, the least you can do is work hard every day and practice and just try your best.’”

Ava Heiden, a 6”4’ freshman center from Sherwood, Oregon, is also adjusting to the Hawkeyes’ intense fan following.

 “There’s not as much hype about women’s basketball on the West Coast,” she said. “When I committed on Instagram, I had a bunch of Hawk fans that were following me, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, where are they coming from?’ But it’s just so amazing to see that, and it’s so amazing that Carver sold out again this year, and I’m so glad we have loyal fans.”

Her fans will be able to see her play in Carver. Her family moved from Oregon to Iowa to be closer to her. 

“There were a few things that were going on that were a stars aligning type of moment,” she explained. “They did a cost analysis of how much it would take to come out here to watch some games with airfare, hotels and stuff like that; it would be $30,000-$35,000 a year. I get to be around my sister more which is great. They get to experience the Iowa winters with me. My dad is from Iowa and my mom is from Michigan, so we have Midwest blood.”  

The Heidens will get their first look at the Jan Jensen-era Hawkeyes in an exhibition game Oct. 30 against Missouri Western in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.