Just a month after Caitlin Clark departed for the WNBA, Iowa women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder announced her retirement on Monday.
Longtime Iowa Hawkeyes assistant, Jan Jensen, will move over one chair and take the reins as coach. Iowa shared the news on social media.
Bluder, 63 years old, was at the helm for the Hawkeyes for 24 seasons, from 2000-24. She led the Hawkeyes to 18 NCAA tournament appearances and was the 2018-19 Naismith Coach of the Year. She steps away after having a front row seat, overseeing the spectacular Caitlin Clark era that grew the game and popularity of women’s basketball by leaps and bounds.
“It has been the honor of my career to be a part of the Iowa Hawkeye family,” Bluder wrote in the Iowa statement announcing her retirement. “And to lead a women’s basketball program filled with so many talented and remarkable young women, who have gone on to do great things in their careers and, more importantly, in their lives.”
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 past two seasons, against the LSU Tigers and the South Carolina Gamecocks. Clark left the program last month after securing her place as college basketball’s all-time leading scorer. She was the first pick by the Indiana Fever in the WNBA Draft and will make her professional debut on Tuesday night on ESPN2.
Clark congratulated Bluder on her retirement shortly after it was announced.
“Simply no one better at building a team,” Clark wrote on social media. “Thank you for believing in me more than anyone. Enjoy retirement, coach. Very much deserved.”
The Hawkeyes secured a winning record in all but one of Bluder’s seasons patrolling the sidelines and won at least 20 games in each of the last eight seasons. Iowa posted a record of 528-254 (.675) under Bluder’s leadership.
Embed from Getty ImagesBluder previously coached for a decade at Drake, where she spearheaded the Bulldogs to NCAA tournament appearances in four of her final six seasons. Drake compiled a 187-106 (.638) record under Bluder.
Bluder kicked off her college coaching career with six seasons as the head coach of NAIA program St. Ambrose, where she posted a 169-36 (.824) record and was named the 1990 NAIA Coach of the Year.
With a combined 884-396 (.691) record, Bluder retires as the 10th-winningest coach in women’s college basketball history. She is a three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year and the all-time leader in wins at Iowa and in the Big Ten.
Jensen played for Bluder at Drake. She later joined Bluder’s staff as an assistant and recruiting coordinator at Drake in 1993 and followed her to Iowa when Bluder took over the program in 2000. Jensen has been Bluder’s associate head coach for the last 20 seasons.
“There is no better person to lead this program than Jan Jensen, and I am thrilled she will have the opportunity to build on the foundation established,” Bluder wrote. “I’m committed to help her, and her staff, in whatever capacity they need moving forward.”
Jensen maintained her role as Bluder’s recruiting coordinator and has been integral in Iowa’s recruiting successes over the years. This is her first head-coaching job.
