It's been a roller coaster season for the 2024-25 Hawkeye Women's Basketball team. It started with eight straight wins before losing to Tennessee 88-78 at the Shark Beauty Women's Champions Classic in Brooklyn, New York. Then a came a home victory over Iowa State 75-69, before losing to Michigan State on the road 68-66.
Since then, it's been three straight wins, then fives losses in a row followed by six more wins in succession. That brings them to a 18-7 mark in mid-February. Is that what Hawks fans envisioned after two consecutive runs to the National Championship game? Maybe, maybe not.
There's no question this season was going to be one for growth. You knew that would be apparent with five new freshmen, one portal transfer and a new head coach, Jan Jensen. Then came the February 2nd win over #4 ranked USC on the day Caitilin Clark had her jersey retired. That win refueled the fan base. For a team that looked like it might miss the NCAA Tournament altogether, hope returned. Now, it's going to be interesting to see what transpires with upcoming games against #9 Ohio State on the road (Feb.17) and back home to face previous #1 UCLA (Feb. 23). The Bruins were beaten by USC Thursday night 71-60. It would have been Carver Crazy had UCLA came in undefeated. Now, more than ever it is coming down to this. One game at a time. And then when the season is over, we can make an assessment. It's the future that has Iowa bordering on hysteria.
Next year, Iowa has three top recruits coming to Iowa City. Leading that group is guard Addie Deal, a top 10 recruit from California, followed by a top 40 forward Journey Houston from Davenport and the second rated center in the 2025 class in Layla Hayes from Alaska. Iowa has at least two more open scholarships for next year. Maybe more if someone else transfers. Will Jensen opt to sign more high school players or hit the portal to add at positions of need (i.e. backup point guard or power forward)? That's the dilemma. With every move that Iowa makes in the 2025 class, it's going to impact any commitments for 2026. Case in point. Let's say the Hawks add a power forward in 2025. If it's a person with one year left it might not have a negative effect. However, let's say it's someone with more than a season of eligibility left. Does Addison Bjorn or McKenna Woliczko then decide to look at some other program where they can play immediately? It remains to be seen. Players are much more ready to play right away then they were in previous years. They won't sit for very long. That's a certainty.
So, we're at this juncture now. If you scan the message boards of the various Hawkeye websites you can see Recruiting Threads of years 2025, 2026 and now 2027. Potential recruits are scrutinized or praised for whatever they could bring to the Hawks nest. Every recruit that has visited Iowa City has their own little fan base. "Come to Iowa. You look great in Black and Gold. You'll love our fans", are just some of the comments they receive.
The day Clark had her number retired was one where a who's who of basketball recruits were on hand. The number one ranked player in 2026, point guard Kate Harpring from Georgia was there as was the top player in Iowa for next year, the multi-dimensional Jenica Lewis. Throw in 2026 forward Addison Bjorn out of Kansas City, 2027 guard Finley Chastain of Dallas and 2028 guard Jhaliana Guy from Bettendorf and it's easy to see why fans are excited. But hold on.
This past week I was traveling back from Colorado. I figured since Iowa was playing in Nebraska in Lincoln, I'd take in a game where it was a little easier to come by an Iowa ticket. I got there early and had several conversations with people around the program. "Why hasn't anyone committed from the big weekend?", I asked. The general consensus was there was a some surprise from the Iowa staff as well that no one had pulled trigger. What else could Iowa have done to show recruits what playing at Iowa would be like? No program nationwide could match the experience a recruit would have had from Clark's Day. No one.
So, this is the conclusion I've come to. I'd be surprised if anyone commits before their high season is over. Then the floodgates might open. If a recruit sees one person recruited to her position at a program, she will most likely move on. Likewise, if....a player makes as decision and commits the remaining Iowa scholarships might go quickly. Because of that, I see Jenica Lewis as a key component for Iowa's future. Her commitment would be a huge beginning for the 2026 class.
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| Will Jenica open the floodgates? |
There is ramped up enthusiasm for the remainder of this year. If Iowa plays well next week against Ohio State and UCLA, who knows how far this team can go.
But in the end, there will be one word needed to be stressed for now and the future.
PATIENCE.
P.S. After publishing this post, I got to thinking about the UCLA game coming up on February 23rd. McKenna Woliczko from California suffered an ACL injury this winter. Her high school season is over with. I wondered if Woliczko might take an official visit that day or if some other young guns might show up. All sorts of thoughts started running through my mind in the what if's. Then I hit the brakes. Woah, Nellie. Heck, I'm no different than everyone else. Patience. Patience. We're talking about Patience, man.
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