(Iowa City, IA) – With unexpected news coming out of Iowa City, Hawkeye women’s basketball Head Coach Lisa Bluder has announced her retirement from coaching. Bluder coached the Hawkeyes for a total of 24 seasons at the University of Iowa and has been a coach for over 40 years at the collegiate level.
Bluder has an extensive career as the Head Coach of the Hawkeyes with multiple awards. She was named the Naismith Coach of the Year in 2019, the three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2001, 2008, and 2010, the four-time regional Coach of the Year in 2001, 2008, 2018, and 2019, and was the Carol Eckman Award winner in 2015. The honors don’t stop there after Bluder was named to the Des Moines Register Hall of Fame in 2016, the Quad City Times Hall of Fame in 2012, the Linn-Mar Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008, and the Northern Iowa Hall of Fame in 2000.
The now former head coach was hired to lead the University of Iowa back in 2000 and now retires as the all-time winningest coach in not only Iowa history but in Big Ten history with a total of 528 wins overall and 262 Big Ten wins. The Hawkeyes were able to capture a total of 22 postseason appearances in her 24 seasons and made the last two National Championship games. She recruited the #1 WNBA Draft pick Caitlin Clark and helped push her to success throughout her career. Lastly, Bluder was able to guide Iowa to five Big Ten Tournament Championships and shared two Big Ten regular season championships.
Bluder had a lot to say about her time at Iowa as she announced her retirement from coaching women’s basketball.
“It is with a range of emotions that I share with you today that I have decided to step down from leading the Iowa women’s basketball team after 24 memorable years. I informed President Wilson and Director of Athletics Beth Goetz of my decision and I am grateful for their unwavering support and offered them my assistance in any manner in the future.
It has been the honor of my career to be a part of the Iowa Hawkeye family, 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. There is no denying that this past season was incredible for so many reasons, and we could not have accomplished our achievements without all of you. After the season ended, I spent time with our student-athletes and coaches reviewing the season and preparing those moving on for what comes next. With that also came personal contemplation about what this journey has meant to me, how to best champion this program, and what the future looks like for my family and me. After then taking some time away with my husband, David, it became clear to me that I am ready to step aside.
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. 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.
I want to thank each and every young woman who believed in our program and in our values for nearly a quarter of a century, and who proudly wore the Black & Gold.
I want to thank Presidents Coleman, Skorton, Mason, Harreld and Wilson for their unequivocal support of our program and Directors of Athletics Dr. Christine Grant, Bob Bowlsby, Gary Barta and Beth Goetz for their unrelenting partnership.
I want to thank my assistant coaches and operations and support staff who each played an integral role in our journey. I specifically want to acknowledge the work of Jan Jensen and Jenni Fitzgerald whom I have had the pleasure of working alongside for the past 32 years.
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.
And finally, I want to thank David and our children, Hannah, Emma and David, Jr., for supporting me while I pursued my dreams and for their own sacrifices along the way.
It is my hope that now with more time and energy, I can be an asset to our basketball program and this athletics department in any way that I am able.”
With Love and Gratitude,
Lisa
Associate Head Coach Jan Jensen, who served for over 20 years with Bluder, has been named the new Head Coach of Iowa women’s basketball, taking over for her good friend. She has over 30 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level with 24 years at Iowa and eight years at Drake alongside Bluder. She will be announced as the new head coach in a press conference this Wednesday, May 15th.
(Information provided by hawkeyesports.com)
