Iowa women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder announced her retirement on Monday.
Longtime Iowa assistant Jan Jensen will take over as head coach. Iowa shared the news on social media.
Bluder, 63, coached the Hawkeyes for 24 seasons from 2000-24. She led the Hawkeyes to 18 NCAA appearances and was the 2018-19 Naismith Coach of the Year. She steps down after overseeing the Caitlin Clark era that substantially grew the game of women’s basketball.
With Clark and Bluder leading the way, the Hawkeyes reached four consecutive NCAA tournaments and advanced to the national championship game in each of the last two seasons. Clark left the program last month after securing her place as college basketball’s all-time leading scorer as the first pick by the Indiana Fever in the WNBA draft.
The Hawkeyes secured a winning record in all but one of Bluder’s seasons at the helm an won at least 20 games in each of the last eight seasons. Iowa went 528-254 (.675) under Bluder’s leadership.
Bluder previously coached 10 seasons at Drake, where she led the Bulldogs to NCAA tournament appearances in four of her final six seasons. Drake compiled a 188-105 (.642) record under Bluder.
Source Agencies
