After a month living in a Coralville hotel last summer, new Iowa women’s basketball assistant coach LaSondra Barrett at last moved into her house.
And one of the first things the former Georgia Tech assistant experienced that July 4 weekend was a friendly neighbor bringing over some barbecue pork and apple crisp.
“(At first), I thought that was a little strange; in Atlanta, not too many people are bringing you food to your doorstep,” Barrett said. “He kept doing it.
“That’s what I heard (about), a thing called Iowa Nice.”
That neighbor has continued to deliver food, bring in Barrett’s garbage bin when she’s on the road, put up her Christmas lights, and clear and salt her driveway after Midwest snowstorms.
“We don’t even have salt down south,” she laughed.
Barrett has been enormously appreciative of the hospitality she’s received in her first year in Iowa after a lifetime in the South. And the feeling is mutual from Hawkeyes head coach Jan Jensen, who not only feels blessed to have added the hard-working Barrett to her staff — she also landed a point guard from Atlanta to join her.
The 1-2 punch of Barrett and sophomore guard Chazadi “Chit-Chat” Wright has turned out to be a resounding success, especially in light of some sudden departures last spring.
Recall, in a matter of days in late March and early April of 2025, Iowa lost a promising young guard in Aaliyah Guyton to the transfer portal and then beloved assistant coach Raina Harmon to a long-awaited head-coaching opportunity.
Ten months later, Guyton is averaging 5.8 points and 17.8 minutes per game for Illinois (and will return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena to face the Hawkeyes on Feb. 26). Harmon’s first team at Florida Gulf Coast is 10-11 overall and in the middle of the pack of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Barrett joined Iowa’s staff officially on April 18; Wright committed to the Hawkeyes five days later.
Though they were wary of the cold Iowa winters, both have been warmly received.
“Still adjusting to the cold,” said Wright, who remains soft-spoken despite her nickname. “But everything else besides that is good. The fans, the teammates, coaches.
“I wanted to go somewhere where I’m able to win and have a big role in the team.”
Wright is extremely likeable, with an upbeat approach and persistent smile. She has bonded with everyone, especially freshmen Journey Houston and Layla Hays.
On the court, she’s been a bit of a revelation.
Wright’s freshman numbers at Georgia Tech were fine — 7.2 points, 2.2 assists a game with 12 starts. At Iowa, she’s taken over the point-guard role and become arguably the most dependable player on the team that enters the Feb. 5 game against Minnesota (6 p.m., BTN) at No. 10 in the national rankings, No. 12 in the NCAA NET and an 18-4 overall record.
Wright’s career-high 24 points helped deliver a crucial Jan. 1 win over Nebraska. She had 18 points in a Jan. 22 escape in overtime at Maryland. She’s averaging 12.6 points per game (third on the team) and 4.3 assists. After shooting 32.3% from 3-point range as a Georgia Tech freshman, she’s improved her deep accuracy to 46.3% at Iowa (44-for-95), which ranks No. 7 among all qualifying Division I women’s players.
“Since I was young, my dad kind of taught me the mechanics,” Wright explained of her increasingly potent and deep accuracy at 5-foot-4, “especially being a shorter guard. (It’s) just keeping the same mechanics and not pushing the ball.”
Where would Iowa be without Wright?
That’s a scary thought.
Since returning fully from a concussion Dec. 20 against No. 1 UConn, Wright has averaged 37.2 minutes over Iowa’s last 11 games. With senior guard Taylor McCabe lost for the season with a torn ACL, Wright’s ability to handle the ball for heavy minutes has become even more important.
Still, she’s young. Jensen would like to see her use her voice and take charge of games with her offense more often.
Through the inevitable ups and downs in her first full year as a college starter, it’s nice for Wright to hear a familiar voice in Barrett’s.
“I tell her, you’re going to be one of the top point guards in the country,” Barrett said.
Wright is serious about her game, meticulously studying other stars like Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, who also must overcome a somewhat diminutive stature at 5-6.
Likewise, Barrett has charged hard into her role on Jensen’s staff. She coaches the forwards, including Hannah Stuelke.
Barrett, a native of Jackson, Mississippi, was a former star player at LSU and played professionally in the WNBA for one season and also overseas. She’s been helping Stuelke understand how to improve, with hopes of making a WNBA training camp and roster.
“Her ability to defend (is key) — now the (WNBA) is switching 1 through 5, and Hannah can do that,” Barrett said. “You saw that with the USA team (over the summer). She won’t be taking all the shots, she’ll be more of a role player, like she was with Caitlin (Clark).”
Perhaps the most essential slice of Barrett’s job, though, is leading Iowa’s recruiting efforts, which was Harmon’s job during Jensen’s first season as head coach after taking over from all-time Big Ten Conference wins leader Lisa Bluder.
Barrett is fully on board with Jensen’s aggressive national approach. The Hawkeyes rallied to reel in No. 6 overall national recruit McKenna Woliczko, a forward from California, in the Class of 2026.
“(The Woliczkos) were very impressed with South Carolina,” Barrett said, “but we came in at the last hour.”
And they’re off to a positive start in the 2027 class with combo guard Jada Seubert of Wisconsin. Barrett thinks Iowa is well-positioned to be “picky” with who it takes next.
Barrett also thinks that international recruiting, particularly Canada, could be an intriguing next step for the Hawkeyes. UConn has been on the cutting edge of landing top Canadian prospects, and Barrett thinks those girls can be good fits at Iowa, too. Hawkeye women’s basketball has the financial and administrative support to recruit internationally.
“Every week, I’m flying somewhere or driving somewhere,” Barrett said. “That’s what we need, especially in Jan’s early years, to just kind of get going to get the good product. We’ve got to put the work in.”
The most eye-opening thing at Iowa for Barrett and Wright besides the cold?
Easy answer for both of them: The raucous fan support. Iowa’s home games are sold out for the third straight season. Even at USC and UCLA last week, large contingents of Iowa fans showed up … even as the rest of the arenas were half-full at best.
“Not a lot of schools get the opportunity to play in front of a sold-out crowd,” Wright said.
At the official Iowa debut for Wright and Barrett against Ashland University, the former Georgia Tech pair looked at one another in amazement upon seeing thousands upon thousands of fans for an exhibition game. Someone told them, “Oh, it gets crazier. Wait until Big Ten.”
Unlike Harmon, Barrett said she doesn’t have aspirations to be a head coach in today’s drama-filled NIL/revenue-sharing landscape, instead preferring the more hands-on coaching and recruiting life of an assistant.
This might end up being a really nice long-term fit for coach (Barrett), player (Wright) and the Hawkeyes.
“It’s good that we have each other,” Barrett said. “There are moments she’ll come into my office to see a (familiar) face. … It’s good to know that I have someone, and she does, too.”
Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has served for 31 years with The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports Network. Chad is the 2023 INA Iowa Sports Columnist of the Year and NSMA Co-Sportswriter of the Year in Iowa. Join Chad’s text-message group at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Follow @ChadLeistikow on X.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Inside Iowa’s double victory of LaSondra Barrett, Chit-Chat Wright
Reporting by Chad Leistikow, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
