When Jan Jensen gathers her Iowa women’s basketball squad — however big or small it is — on the first day of summer practice June 15, the third-year Hawkeyes head coach could confidently and passionately deliver a message that goes something like this:
“I’m not going to dwell on anybody who departed from last year’s team. Last year is over. Those 27 wins and a No. 2 NCAA Tournament seed were great, but they’re history. Not one player remains from our back-to-back Final Four runs. So, today marks a new chapter in Iowa women’s basketball history. All that we, as your coaches, care about today and over the next 10 months is you, the 2026-27 Hawkeyes.
“What an opportunity we have to build something really special together. We’ve got the core five players who believe in what we’re doing. All-Big Ten center Ava Heiden, junior. All-Big Ten guard Chit-Chat Wright, junior. Captain Taylor Stremlow, junior. Shoulda-been All-Big Ten freshman team member Journey Houston, sophomore. Layla Hays, sophomore. They stuck together.
“Now we welcome the new pieces. Let’s say hello to first-team All-SEC guard Dani Carnegie from Georgia, a junior. We’ve got the diligent defender who has started all 97 games of her college career in Amari Whiting from Oklahoma State, a senior. And of course, there’s the decorated high-school all-American in McKenna Woliczko, a freshman.
“Notice something about this group? Aside from Amari, who has stated her team-oriented goals in her final season of college ball, you’ve all got at least two more years available in the black and gold. Some of you three. One of you has four.
“Together, we have an opportunity to build something great this season and something equally great or greater the next, if we all stick together and work for one another.
“I told you I wasn’t living in the past, but I do know a thing or two about what it takes to make special two-year runs. Back in the 2022-23 season, we had a lot of wonderful, team-driven players who cared about each other more than themselves. They were stinging after a tough NCAA Tournament loss here at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Caitlin Clark, Kate Martin, Gabbie Marshall, McKenna Warnock and Monika Czinano used the fuel from that home loss to 10-seed Creighton to fight together over the course of 10 months, all the way to a historic win over South Carolina and a national-title shot against LSU.
“The next year, with many of those same players and a few new ones, we won a school-record 34 games. We beat Kim Mulkey and Angel Reese and LSU in the Elite Eight. We beat Geno Auriemma and Paige Bueckers and UConn in the Final Four. We got back to the national finals again. I believe this group has what it takes to reach the highest mountain, too, but we’ve got to play together and stay together. Starting today.”
Jensen and her staff are justified in potentially thinking big for the next two years.
With two transfer-portal acquisitions and one high school superstar, the Hawkeyes have more than replenished the offseason losses suffered by a team that finished second (to national champ UCLA) in the 18-team Big Ten.
Carnegie — who moved up to ESPN’s No. 3 overall rated transfer-portal prospect this cycle — is a substantial backcourt upgrade over Addie Deal, who transferred to Wisconsin. She will bring much-needed shot creation that Iowa lacked a season ago.
Whiting was brought in as a replacement for the defensive-oriented Kylie Feuerbach, but she can also score when needed (career 10.1 points per game).
Woliczko has a chance to be every bit the rebounder that Hannah Stuelke was and a more versatile scorer, perhaps right away. Plus, she can really run the floor and defend.
Throw in expected continued development from the remarkable Heiden, the hard-working Stremlow, the cat-quick Wright (who will now go from No. 2 on the scouting report to maybe No. 4), the tenacious Houston and the powerful Hays, and Iowa’s put together a top eight that it is justifiably enthused about.
From all observations and accounts, these are players wired the right way. Stremlow is the “heart and soul” of the team and leads the returning energy. Whiting’s comments to the Register were impressive about putting the team first; so were Carnegie’s. Woliczko, likewise, appears to have a measured approach to her Hawkeye career arc despite being the nation’s No. 6 overall recruit in the Class of 2026.
After Whiting leaves, Class of 2027 commitment Jada Seubert — an impressive left-handed guard out of Wisconsin — will take her place. So the top eight and their roles could be really consistent over the next two years.
There are two obvious shortcomings, as it stands, with these eight: 3-point shooting and depth.
On the 3s, that’s probably a primary focus of Iowa’s remaining portal moves. Jensen told the Register she wanted the roster to get to nine to 10 players and “then we’ll kind of see … if we want to add anyone else.” It’ll be hard to sell anyone on automatic playing time, though. But finding a shooter — someone who can loosen up a zone defense — is a priority.
On the depth, we’ll see how it shakes out. But yes, in an ideal world, you wouldn’t go into a season with eight total players. Even if you believe fully in those eight. However, in a realistic world, a women’s basketball program can only pay a limited number of players. You need stars to make deep runs. You need them healthy.
Thus, injuries are going to be a risk in this pay-for-play world. Whether Iowa ends up with a roster of nine or 12 players, it won’t be able to afford many (if any) crucial medical issues over the next 10 months.
Bottom line: While absolutely the Hawkeyes want to win this year, there should be a two-year mindset ingrained into this roster and coaching staff … and the fan base. The more this thing can get built in a positive direction, the more attractive it’ll also become to Class of 2027 and 2028 prospects to keep it going.
Thus, Jensen’s biggest task is making sure everyone is channeled in the same direction, not only over the next 10 months, but the next 22.
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: Potential two-year road map for Jan Jensen’s Hawkeyes | Leistikow
Reporting by Chad Leistikow, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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