Iowa State women’s basketball transfer Kylie Feuerbach finds good fit with Hawkeyes

Former Iowa State Cyclone guard Kylie Feuerbach transferred to the Hawkeyes for her sophomore season in 2021-22.

Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Cit

Iowa guard Kylie Feuerbach speaks to reporters after a summer Hawkeyes women’s basketball practice, Thursday, July 1, 2021, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.

Chloe Peterson, Summer Sports Editor


Kylie Feuerbach spent the first year of her collegiate basketball career with Iowa State, but her parentsalma mater wasnt the right fit.

So the former Cyclone transferred to the Hawkeyes ahead of her sophomore season in 2021-22.

Its been really good,” Feuerbach said following practice last week. As soon as I got [to Iowa], I told my parents like right away, I feel like I fit really well with this team.Theyre all extremely welcoming, and the transitions been really good, and I really like it so far.”

On a 17-11 Iowa State womens basketball team in 2020-21, Feuerbach was a mainstay in the Cyclonesyoung starting lineup. Feuerbach started 24 of Iowa States 28 games, including the Cyclonestwo NCAA Tournament games.

She averaged 5.5 points and 3.1 rebounds while playing 21.9 minutes per game as a freshman and shot 36 percent from the field.

But the Sycamore, Illinois, native will see a fresh start with the Hawkeyes in 2021-22.

Obviously, theres a lot of factors that went into [transferring],” Feuerbach said. I really like the culture they have; the coaching is great… Locations always a plus, its about two hours from my home.

I love the winningness, the competitiveness on this team. Obviously, its just the summer and its extremely competitive everywhere, no matter what were doing.”

As soon as Feuerbach stepped on the Hawkeye campus for summer workouts in June, the Iowa coaching staff knew she was the perfect fit for the team.

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It feels like she was here the whole time,” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said. Now, part of that is because some of them played together in AAU, so they knew each other… but its natural, it feels like a natural fit.”

In high school, Feuerbach also played with Hawkeye sophomore guard Caitlin Clark on the AAU All-Iowa Attack team in Des Moines — a team that claimed a national title at the 2018 Nike EYBL Tournament.

I think she made a great decision to come here,” Clark said. She wants to win, and thats what were going to do. She knows where she wanted to go, and I mean, Im just excited. Shes one of those true team players… shes super athletic, and I think the biggest thing is just that shes going to add really good depth for us and thats what we needed at times. We didnt have that depth last year, and shes going to add another person that can come in, defend, shoot it, drive, and create things for our offense.”

In 2021-22, Feuerbach will add a layer of depth to the Hawkeyes defensive backcourt. The 6-foot guard registered 15 steals and 11 blocks with the Cyclones in 2020-21.

In summer offseason practices, the Hawkeyes put a focus on their defensive abilities. In 2020-21, Iowa ranked 336th out of 336 NCAA Division I Womens Basketball teams in scoring defense, allowing an average of 80.3 points per game.

Iowa State ranked 283rd out of all Division I teams, allowing an average of 71.4 points per game.

As a seasoned defensive player, Feuerbach is prepared to elevate the Hawkeyesbackcourt.

I know something they really want to emphasize this year is defense, so thats something I really want to contribute in,” Feuerbach said. I really want to focus on my defense for sure this year, but whatever they need, Ill contribute.”

Although the former Cyclone saw her new teammates as rivals in the 2020-21 season, Feuerbach had no problem fitting in with the Hawkeye womens basketball team.

[Feuerbachs] doing amazing,” Hawkeye junior forward McKenna Warnock said. And I think its a really good place for her. She seems really happy, shes working very hard, and she kind of fits right in right away, so I think shell be a really good impact player.”