(Iowa City, IA) – Iowa Assistant to the Head Coach, Jenni Fitzgerald, has announced that she’s retiring from coaching basketball. This comes after former Head Coach Lisa Bluder announced her retirement from basketball just a few weeks ago.
Fitzgerald coached for a total of 32 years alongside Lisa Bluder at Drake and Iowa and spent 20 seasons as an assistant coach with her staff. She spent a total of 38 years in women’s college basketball as both a coach and player. She spent two years as a graduate assistant at Southern Illinois before jumping on Bluder’s staff at Drake for eight seasons. Fitzgerald formally played with now Head Coach Jan Jensen while at Drake University before becoming a graduate assistant at SIU.
After making the announcement, Coach Fitz stated, “It’s been a privilege to be a part of the Hawkeye family for the past 24 years,” said Fitzgerald. “Lisa, Jan, and I had big dreams of filling arenas and hoisting trophies when we first stepped onto campus. Because of the women who came through our program and our Hawkeye community, those dreams became our reality. I’m forever grateful for all the memories I’ve made and the people I’ve met along the way.”
Fitzgerald had quite a career at the high school level in Iowa after being named Miss Iowa Basketball and Iowa’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1986. She earned first-team honors in basketball, softball, and volleyball while playing at North Scott High School. Like Jansen, Fitzgerald was named into the Iowa Girls Basketball Hall of Fame for her contributions to Iowa girl’s basketball.
