After announcing her commitment to Iowa women’s basketball, 2026 five-star forward McKenna Woliczko shared a remarkable story about her recruitment process with the Hawkeyes that could have potentially led to the program missing out on one of its all-time highest-ranked recruits.
In a press conference from Archbishop Mitty High School, Woliczko detailed her recruitment process with Iowa and it includes a bit of a crazy story. Iowa head women’s basketball coach Jan Jensen had scouting notes on Woliczko from the star forward’s play with Team USA’s U17 squad in 2024.
Woliczko was terrific during Team USA’s run to the U17 gold medal. Woliczko was named to the All-Star Five at the 2024 FIBA U17 World Cup in Leon, Mexico, averaging 12.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 51.3% from the field in seven games.
However, when Jensen was transitioning into the office of former Iowa head women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder, the notes on Woliczko were somehow lost in the process.
“I didn’t start getting recruited from Iowa until about after my sophomore year in the summer. And that’s a really long story. Basically, coach Jensen had notes on me from USA and those notes got lost when she was changing into coach Bluder’s office.
“And so basically, Addison Bjorn’s dad was talking to my dad about the relationship to Iowa and how Iowa’s always been so great to Addi. So, then my dad reached out to them and then they kind of reached back out being like, ‘Oh my gosh, the notes got mistaken and we’ve been wanting to recruit you. We just got confused.’ And so then, we started talking on the phone and then obviously since then it’s been great,” Woliczko said.
Though it makes for an unconventional recruiting saga, Woliczko’s recruitment stands as a great illustration of the positive reputation that the Hawkeyes have built among the nation’s top stars.
And now, with Bjorn having officially visited Iowa on Sept. 27, the Hawkeyes can undoubtedly lean on the Woliczko connection with Bjorn as Iowa aims to secure another commitment from a fellow five-star prospect in Bjorn.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: McKenna Woliczko shares wild Iowa women’s basketball recruitment story
Reporting by Scout Springgate, Hawkeyes Wire / Hawkeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
