IOWA CITY, Iowa – Jan Jensen had numerous head coaching opportunities during her 24 years as an assistant on Lisa Bluder’s coaching staff at Iowa.
A few offers, Jensen said, were good enough to be seriously considered, but ultimately she decided to stay with Bluder and the Hawkeyes.
That loyalty was rewarded when Jensen, Iowa’s head coach for the past two decades, was elevated to head coach after Bluder announced her retirement.
“Ultimately, this is where I wanted to be,” Jensen said during her introductory press conference.
Jensen succeeds the winningest coach in Iowa and Big Ten history. Her hiring adds to what would be a transition period for the Hawkeyes, who are coming off back-to-back NCAA championship game appearances and losing three starters, including two-time National Player of the Year Caitlin Clark.
The Hawkeyes have appeared in 14 of the last 16 NCAA tournaments and have won the Big Ten Tournament title the past three seasons.
“When you chase greatness, you want to be a champion,” Jensen said.
Jensen said the program was already entering a new era with the loss of Clark, who became Division I’s all-time leading scorer in her four years at Iowa. Starters Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall also ended their careers.
Even with staff turnover high, Jensen said she won’t lower her expectations, and she expects the same from her players.
Iowa athletic director Beth Goetz said it was an easy decision to promote Jensen.
“This is a seamless passing of the baton,” Goetz said. “Jan demonstrates daily what it means to have a tireless work ethic, lead with compassion and fiery passion, and be confident in who you are and how to pursue your dreams. Everything we needed in the next leader of this storied program was here.
Jensen said she was “shocked” when Bluder told her she was retiring after 40 seasons at three schools.
“It’s closed a wonderful chapter,” said Jensen, who added that Bluder would become an advisor to the program.
A native of the western Iowa town of Kimballton, Jensen was one of the best high school players in the state’s 6-on-6 history, averaging 66 points per game as a senior. She moved on to Drake, where she led the nation in scoring in her senior season in 1991. Two years later, she came back to Drake to work on Bluder’s staff and then followed her to Iowa when Bluder was hired in 2000 as head coach.
“I guess I just want to say that I love this state, and I can’t believe the journey that I’ve been on,” Jensen said. “Oh boy. I always say, if God took me away tomorrow, I couldn’t have it better.”
“I’d like to think they come in with a mindset, a little chip on their shoulder,” she said, “because almost everyone will say, ‘Hey, you lost all that.’ ”
Iowa sold out every home game last season, including two NCAA Tournament games, and Jensen said she’s counting on that kind of support to continue.
“This year was going to be very different in the sense of rebuilding, in the sense of graduating seniors, including a generational player like Caitlin,” Jensen said. “There were fans who came for Caitlin. A lot of people came for Caitlin, but they stayed for Hannah (Stuelke), they stayed for Syd (Affolter), they definitely stayed for Kate and Gabbie. I think they stayed for what this team and this culture is.”
