During practice, it’s clear exactly how Bluder accomplishes this. Anyone in Carver-Hawkeye Arena can feel the intensity and volume she brings onto the court; she dissects every detail of a drill until it’s executed without flaw. Arms crossed and whistle around her neck, she dictates directions to her defense and calls out different offensive attacks for the players.

Even after being a college head coach for more than three decades, Bluder’s attention to detail hasn’t changed.

“She hasn’t lost any of that enthusiasm or passion, and that’s what makes her so special,” Fitzgerald said.

In Bluder’s office, the ambiance couldn’t be more different. The natural light from the wall-sized windows complements the near silence of the workplace, save a few taps from the keyboard or a highlighter brushing against practice notes. Pictures of Bluder with her family and Iowa football Kid Captains splice the plaques she’s earned for hundreds of wins.

“It’s about being the best you can be, whatever that is; if that’s being in the NCAA tournament, whether that’s going to the Final Four, whether it’s being a mid-place in the Big Ten,” Bluder said. “It’s a new team, so how can this team be its best, and what is its best? I think that’s what you have to identify every year.”

One thing that must change for the coach of any college sport, though, is the roster. The NCAA women’s basketball’s 16th-winningest coach has grown a list of accomplished players, producing 22 different All-Big Ten honorees. All the turnover on the roster, though, doesn’t faze Bluder, but instead allows her to play to another one of her strengths: adaptation.

“I think that she just adapts to the team that she has that year. My freshman year we had Ally [Disterhoft] and Megan [Gustafson], so she adapted to both of their strengths, and then we had Megan and Hannah [Stewart] and Tania [Davis] the next two years,” senior Amanda Ollinger said. “Then this year, having a completely new-looking team, she’s just done a great job.”

Bluder knows how to win. She knows how to create champions. Her excursion into the 2019-20 season begins tonight at Carver-Hawkeye, where besides the scoreboard, she will focus on the mission she values the most: creating leaders.

“I think it’s a really crucial time in their development,” Bluder said. “And I’m hoping that all of us on our staff has some part to do with them progressing as strong women and good role models.”

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