Lisa Bluder, who guided Iowa’s women’s basketball program to unprecedented heights over 24 years and helped Caitlin Clark attain superstar status, announced her retirement Monday.
“There is never an ideal time to retire and I am sure this fall that I will miss the games, the practices, the road trips, the atmosphere, the tremendous fans and, most importantly, the players,” Bluder, 63, said in a statement. “But my belief in the foundation of this program, knowing that success is now an unrelenting component of women’s basketball at the University of Iowa gives me comfort as I transition to become the program’s biggest champion.”
The Hawkeyes, coming off two straight appearances in the NCAA tournament championship game, will have a very different look this season. Bluder will be absent from their sideline for the first time since 1999, and Clark is set to make her WNBA debut Tuesday after becoming the league’s No. 1 draft pick last month. Kate Martin, another fixture in Iowa’s lineups over the past four seasons, also has moved into the professional ranks.
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Longtime assistant Jan Jensen will replace Bluder as the Hawkeyes’ head coach. A player under Bluder at Drake, where the latter spent 10 seasons, Jensen followed the coach to Iowa and is getting her first opportunity to run a program.
“The only option there ever was!!!” Clark wrote of Jensen in a post Monday on X. “You deserve this more than anyone. Can’t wait to watch you lead this program!!!”
Of Bluder, Clark wrote that there was “simply no one better at building a team.”
“Thank you for believing in me more than anyone,” Clark said to Bluder in a post on X. “Enjoy retirement, coach. Very much deserved.”
Simply no one better at building a team… Thank you for believing in me more than anyone 🤍 Enjoy retirement, coach. Very much deserved 🥹 https://t.co/XnxmteSCTq
— Caitlin Clark (@CaitlinClark22) May 13, 2024Over 40 years as a head coach, including six seasons at NAIA St. Ambrose University, Bluder amassed a record of 884-396. That gives her the 10th-most wins among women’s college basketball coaches who spent a significant portion of their careers at the Division I level.
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Bluder also holds Iowa and Big Ten records with 528 wins, against 254 losses, and she led the Hawkeyes to 18 appearances in the NCAA tournament. Iowa, which before Bluder’s arrival had just one Final Four berth in its history, got its first two wins in the national semifinals in the past two years. Both came against powerhouse programs in South Carolina and then Connecticut, with the national title game losses coming against LSU and this year’s undefeated Gamecocks squad.
Along the way — and propelled by Clark’s brilliance — Iowa became must-see TV. As she played her way to the all-time Division I scoring record and numerous player of the year accolades, the Hawkeyes sparked sellouts at home and on the road.
Before Clark joined the program, Bluder earned the Naismith coach of the year award in 2019, as well as plaudits that year for helping former Hawkeyes great Megan Gustafson win consensus national player of the year recognition. In addition to Clark and Gustafson, Kathleen Doyle (2020) was named the Big Ten player of the year under Bluder’s tutelage.
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“I want to thank each and every young woman who believed in our program,” Bluder said Monday, “and in our values for nearly a quarter of a century, and who proudly wore the Black & Gold. … I want to thank the incredible fans for believing in what we were doing and how we were doing it, creating the greatest home-court advantage in all of women’s basketball.”
“It is bittersweet news for all of us who love the University of Iowa and who have incredible admiration and respect for what Coach Bluder has accomplished and for how she did it,” Iowa Athletic Director Beth Goetz said of Bluder in a statement. “Lisa has left an indelible mark on this program, touched countless lives, and brought joy to all who know and love the Hawkeyes. … While we are saddened that she will no longer lead our young women on the court, we are thankful for what she has given to all of us and are comforted knowing she will continue to be our biggest champion and fan.”
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