While Hawkeye fans were ecstatic to learn about Villanova guard Lucy Olsen’s visit to Iowa, Mother Nature had her own plans. If Olsen was going to don the Black and Gold, she had to truly embrace Iowa for all it had to offer.
When Olsen and her parents sat inside head coach Lisa Bluder’s office at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the sky had grown dark, crackling with lighting offset by rolling thunder. Rain began to pour — sideways — then shifted in the other direction.
“[The coaches] were like, ‘Uh oh, that’s not a good sign,’” Olsen told The Daily Iowan.
Soon, sirens wailed and phones buzzed. In her first trip to the Hawkeye state, Olsen experienced her first-ever tornado warning.
“We were all panicking, [the coaches] were like, ‘It’s alright we have some time,’” Olsen recalled. “My mom was, like, ‘I want to go outside and look,’ but we just went down to the locker room and hung out there, watched the news until it was over.”
Earlier that day, Iowa assistant coach Abby Stamp told Olsen that back in her playing days with the Hawkeyes, a tornado entered the area, but the team continued its workout. These words must have rubbed off on Olsen, as ESPN’s sixth-ranked transfer shrugged off the whirlwind weather experience and signed with Iowa two days later.
The nation’s third-leading scorer last season, Olsen enters Iowa City with high expectations amid the departure of superstar guard Caitlin Clark. Yet just like her experience with Iowa weather, Olsen is unbothered by outside pressure, trusting her game’s flexibility and newfound leadership capabilities.
Having dribbled a basketball since she was in kindergarten, Olsen said it wasn’t even a question of if she would play in college. Hailing from Collegeville, Pennsylvania, Olsen stayed in the state with Villanova and soon realized college basketball wouldn’t be a cakewalk. Arriving early in the summer for her first year, Olsen said she was “bumped around” a lot during a scrimmage session, where forward Maddy Siegrist never missed a shot.
While Siegrist was the face of the team for Olsen’s first two years at Villanova, the guard was well prepared to take the reins when Siegrist departed for the WNBA. That offseason, Olsen started working with trainer Rod Raines, who instilled more efficient dribble techniques.
“Getting to the spots I want to get to instead of letting the defense dictate,” Olsen said. “It was more, like, ‘They’re going to have to guard you.’”
In addition, Olsen also honed her leadership qualities. Preferring to lead by example, Olsen said she learned how to be more adaptable with her teammates. She explained how not everyone listens the same way and as a result, she must be either more straightforward or demonstrative with her instruction.
In her final season with the Wildcats, Olsen had career-highs in points per game at 23.3, rebounding at 4.8 per game, steals at 1.9 per game, field goal percentage at 43.8, and free throw percentage at 80.7 as Villanova advanced to the finals of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament in April. That offseason, Olsen entered the transfer portal, preferring to play out her final season of eligibility at a bigger school as women’s basketball rises to new heights.
Bluder was one of the first coaches to reach out to Olsen. After a Zoom meeting with the head coach, Olsen said it felt like the two had known each other forever. Bluder emphasized that the Hawkeyes wanted Olsen not just for her playing ability, but also for her persona, as building team culture was just as important.
“She was the sweetest person ever, so caring,” Olsen said of Bluder. “It felt like family when I talked with her for the first time.”
The same could be said for Olsen’s Hawkeye teammates, whom she had dinner with during her visit.
Watching Iowa highlights on TikTok and national television, it was clear to Olsen she would be joining a group that values one another.
“Just their confidence in each other, you can see that when they’re passing the ball to someone else,” Olsen said of the Hawkeyes. “They’re not worried that they’re going to mess up. They’re like, ‘It’s your turn, hit that shot.’”
Modeling her game after 19-year NBA veteran point guard Chris Paul, Olsen said she wants to be a facilitator just as much as a scorer when she steps on the court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. A fan of the mid-range game, Olsen said she wants to take more drives and three-pointers. Yet most of all, Olsen said she’s not a fan of losing, and with 15,000-plus fans in attendance at Carver, she will have plenty of support.
“The only time I’ve ever played in front of that big of a crowd [at UConn], they were all cheering against me,” Olsen said, laughing. “Picturing it, I can’t even imagine, so I’m excited for that first step.”