Fresh off a win in the NCAA Tournament last season, Iowa women’s basketball is preaching patience. For head coach Jan Jensen, now in her second year at the helm for the Hawkeyes, progress for her squad revolves around not skipping steps.
She began her press conference at the team’s local media day Tuesday morning by reminding reporters Iowa features its youngest roster since 2012. More than half of its players are underclassmen. In the second year post-Caitlin Clark, Iowa sold out season tickets once again, continuing a three-year streak. But amidst the hype, Jensen remains methodical in her approach.
“I think on paper, it all looks really exciting and it looks, like, ‘Wow, this is really a deep team and we’ve got all this versatility,’” she said. “And we do, but I think anybody who actually coaches or teaches, there is a learning curve that you cannot skip the steps.”
For Jensen, the Hawkeyes’ inexperience isn’t too concerning so long as the team’s culture remains fortified. In the era of Name, Image, and Likeness and revenue sharing, individual triumph and earnings are highlighted more than ever. Jensen accepts this reality. Relationships lean more toward transactional than transformative.
“They’re coming in and they’re wanting to see things for their individual end,” she said. “It’s a whole new era. But I’m glad. I think we’re doing a good job with it. But it is hard.”
In an age of immediate eligibility in the transfer portal, player movement is inevitable. At the guard position, Aaliyah Guyton transferred to Illinois while Chazadi “Chit Chat” Wright arrived from Georgia Tech.
With larger roles and more minutes available elsewhere, opportunity abounds both in and out of Iowa City. Jensen’s predecessor, Lisa Bluder, equated playing time to dividing 200 minutes per game among the five players on the floor. The new head coach said she would’ve preferred 89,000.
“All the players feel their self-worth is in those minutes, and you can’t possibly … I know, we’re so deep, we’re so deep, I can’t play them all,” she said. “And that’s part of the deal. You’re going to critique that we’re not deep, we’re not playing [everyone]. I get it.”
Iowa’s newcomers hail from a variety of backgrounds. Five-star recruit Addie Deal hails from Irvine, California, while first-year center Layla Hays was Alaska’s No. 1 player in the class of 2025. Journey Houston recorded over 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in her career at North High School in Davenport, Iowa.
For Jensen, these first-years only saw the Hawkeyes play on TV. Winning at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on a nightly basis may look easy, but the reality isn’t as “glamorous.” Older players like Hannah Stuelke and Kylie Feuerbach are well aware of the standard, but it’s Jensen’s job to keep that bar at a high level, no matter the difficulty.
“The understanding is beginning of like, ‘Holy cow, we’ve got to go this hard? I’ve got to do this rep again?’” Jensen said. “Yeah, we do. We’re probably going to do it about 6,000 more times before we open up.”
When the Hawkeyes do roll out the whole playbook, Jensen explained the team will maintain its fast-paced style, but will have the “added luxury” of size. Taller players on the floor will allow Iowa to not just counter other teams, but force adjustments from the opposition as well.
Hays stands at 6-foot-5, with second-year Ava Heiden right behind at 6-4 and Stuelke at 6-2. Guards Emely Rodriguez and Teagan Mallegni are 6-0 and 6-1, respectively.
“With us playing fast, we’re really going to be able to utilize Hannah and Ava running the floor, beating people down the floor for those early, easy, high percentage shots,” assistant coach Abby Stamp said. “And then, each of them doing their job on the defensive glass as well, really gets us started on the opposite end.”
Heiden’s scoring surged toward the end of last season, tallying at least 10 points in three of Iowa’s final four games, including a career-high 15-point effort in its first-round victory over Murray State. She became just the fifth freshman in program history to log at least 15 points in an NCAA Tournament game. With unselfish players like Wright and Deal leading the fast break, Heiden is confident her scoring will continue to develop and help the Hawkeyes this upcoming season.
“Both of them do a really good job of throwing me the ball down the court when I’m running which is great because when I’m running I’m like, ‘Please give it to me. I don’t want to have to run anymore,’” Heiden said with a laugh. “They look for me, they’re really coachable, they’re fun to play with, and they’re happy people. I couldn’t ask for better teammates.”
Iowa opens the 2025-26 campaign with an Oct. 30 exhibition game against Division II Ashland University. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.