Gustafson, Bluder sweep Naismith Awards
For the 10th time in NCAA history, a coach and player from the same team has swept the Naismith Awards.
Megan Gustafson hugs Head Coach Lisa Bluder after being called off the Carver court for the last time during women’s basketball against Northwestern in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 3, 2019. Iowa defeated Northwestern 74-50.
April 6, 2019
The season may be over for Iowa women’s basketball, the awards just keep coming for senior Megan Gustafson and head coach Lisa Bluder.
Gustafson and Bluder swept the Naismith Awards on Saturday, with Gustafson taking home the Naismith Player of the Year and Bluder winning Naismith Coach of the Year.
Both awards are considered the most prestigious in college basketball, and it is just the 10th time in history that one school has claimed both of the awards in the same year.
For Gustafson, this award adds to her ever-expanding list of awards — she has also earned the Senior CLASS award, Associated Press Player of the Year, USBWA Player of the Year, and the Lisa Leslie Award this week.
It is a significant award for the Iowa women’s basketball program as Gustafson became the first player to win the honor.
While winning awards is becoming habitual for Gustafson, this will be Bluder’s first major award this season.
In previous seasons, Bluder has won Big Ten Coach of the Year three times (2001, 2008, 2010) and the WBCA regional Coach of the Year three times as well (2001, 2008, 2018).
Bluder is the first Hawkeye to win the award since C. Vivian Stringer accomplished the feat in 1993.
The award comes after Bluder took her team further than any of her past teams in the NCAA Tournament.
Prior to this season, Bluder and her teams had only advanced to the Sweet 16. This year, they went one round further, eventually falling to Baylor in the Elite Eight.
Both Bluder and Gustafson will be honored and presented with trophies during a ceremony to be held in Iowa at a later date.
