Once rather emotionless on the sidelines as she watched chunks of highly touted Iowa women’s basketball games pass by, fourth-year center Addison O’Grady has exploded into a passionate and aggressive threat this season.

Now 8-1, the Hawkeyes began this season criminally underrated, unranked, and with a brand-new look. With Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin off to the WNBA, Gabbie Marshall graduated, and famed head coach Lisa Bluder retired, Jan Jensen assumed a team that had to find its identity early to really be successful.

The biggest surprise emerging through the smoke and mirrors, though, has been O’Grady, a 6-foot-4 center from Aurora, Colorado.

“Addison has made great strides,” Jensen said at the team’s official media day on Oct. 10. “I expect Addison to have a critical role.”

O’Grady made a massive leap onto the scene in her freshman campaign through 2021 and 2022, collecting Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors on Jan. 3, 2022, a double-double against Evansville with 14 points and 12 rebounds the day before, and a season-high 16 points against Wisconsin on Feb. 3 on 7-of-9 from the field.

In fact, O’Grady was a reliable postseason big off the bench on both ends of the floor, finishing the season with 319 minutes, 4.1 points per game, 109 field goals attempted, and 26 blocks.

But with her sophomore season in 2022 and 2023, the addition of forward Hannah Stuelke significantly altered her role on the floor, sometimes eliminating it altogether. Bluder went to Stuelke over O’Grady in the same role behind starting center Monika Czinano, O’Grady playing in 32 games but seeing just 179 minutes, two points per game, 45 field goals attempted, and 10 blocks.

While O’Grady got some time and played her role that year, her timid nature on the floor showed she still had to find her place on the team to significantly contribute — or otherwise sink.

But any hooper on the bench always needs to be ready, just as the second-year athlete was in the 77-73 win over South Carolina in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament, in which she saw 10 minutes on a duo of dangerous Gamecock bigs. In the Hawkeyes’ 102-85 loss to LSU in the 2023 NCAA championship, O’Grady played nearly half of the game.

This planted the seeds for success the college basketball world is seeing from her now.

“I think she just went for it,” Jensen said. “And I think sometimes, though, when you become a senior, she’s had three years to watch and learn from Monika Czinano. And then last year, she had … some really good minutes, and she got a hunger for it.”

With another runner-up finish in the dance the following season, the then-junior embraced the battle with Stuelke, coming into her mold with a voice on the floor, letting her passion and emotions fly. O’Grady displayed everything a coach looks for in a big — hustling, running the floor hard, rebounding, and attacking with aggression.

While she finished the season with a statline similar to her freshman season — 335 minutes, 3.9 points per game, 121 field goals attempted, and 20 blocks — it became clear O’Grady found her role.

“She’s long, and she’s lean,” Jensen said. “I think that’s a really fun thing that she is able to just alter some things just by virtue of being in there. If you get in there, she’s pretty big, and I think she enjoys that role.”

But the road to a secured spot on the floor was not yet straight and narrow, first-year Ava Heiden coming in to challenge her for the starting job alongside backup AJ Ediger. Through illnesses and openings around her, though, O’Grady jumped at her opportunity.

“That center battle — it’s pretty competitive,” Jensen said. “Addi … she has a little more experience. She knows what we want a little bit more. So I really want it to be competitive and reward that when everybody stays hungry, but it’s neck and neck.”

Moving into the Dec. 8 contest against Tennessee in Brooklyn, New York, O’Grady has started all nine games of her senior season. She’s already played 192 minutes — and is averaging a whopping 15 points per game.

She’s scored in single digits in just one game, which was nine points against Kansas. But on the other end, O’Grady totaled a career-high 27 points against Drake on Nov. 17, playing 33 minutes and shooting 13-of-21 from the field with zero rebounds and three blocks.

“I have grown tremendously,” O’Grady said. “Now [I’m] getting a bunch of minutes and just getting into a rhythm early in the season that has been really good for my confidence so far.”

Beyond the stat-watching, though, O’Grady certainly sprints the floor hard to set and push the pace of the game, working with Villanova transfer guard Lucy Olsen and now Stuelke to move the ball with a two-post threat on offense. She finishes under contact with great technique to seal her defenders in the post and has even developed a nice outside jumper.

“My teammates are doing a really good job at getting me the ball,” O’Grady said. “And I think it’s really good that early in the season we’re looking inside and getting our inside game going.

“Once I do my work before the ball even gets to me, then it’s an easy shot,” she added. “If they’re fronting, then the guards pass me a good pass, and I’m working them up the floor, and then it’s just really easy from there. So, it’s doing your work early and just never letting the defense rest, always putting pressure on them and getting those easy shots.”

Mixed with her quick reactions in rim-protecting on the other end, another key to her game is rebounding, especially at her height, size, and physicality. O’Grady is averaging five rebounds per game, and 14 of the 38 total are offensive.

“I think the more she’s progressed, it’s like, ‘Hey, I like this,’” Jensen said. “So, I think I like having her there. I think she just gives the presence inside — gives us a little different look consistently this year than we had last year.”

With more minutes now comes a need for ball security, and her 21 turnovers hurt this Iowa offense, proving her need to control the ball and use her strength in every regard on the court.

O’Grady’s development is a testament to both her own commitment and the development Jensen has with her bigs. Her scheme with Stuelke at the four and O’Grady deep down low is paying dividends, and it should continue as the Hawkeyes climb the polls toward March.

“She paid her dues — she worked hard for it,” Jensen said. “And now she’s enjoying the fruits of her labor.”