For the first almost 20 years of Lisa Bluder's tenure at Iowa, this would've labeled a reasonably typical Iowa season - good and wishing it could've been a bit better. Admittedly all the non-COVID years since 2018-'19 have lifted the bar considerably, labeling this year's #11 seed in the BTT and out in the round of 32 in the NCAA a distinct disappointment. But now with Lisa Olsen and her 1st-team All-Big-Ten honors, blue-collar guard Sydney Affolter and post player Addy O'Grady gone, what is ahead for the Hawks?
++The (what will now be) sophomores must improve and become more consistent. We had some good moments with Ava Heiden, Taylor Stremlow, Teagan Mallegni and Aaliyah Guyton. But the wait for them to consistently produce lasted through the season - you just never knew what you were going to get, game in and game out. And too often, they still played the part of "freshmen" where the stage seemed almost too big for them. Although there is a rumor that Guyton may not be back, the rest of them are talented enough that some good off-season work should make a huge difference. If so, we have three exciting years ahead of us;
++The (what will now be) Sr's. need to become the key leaders and players on and off the court: Kylie Feuerbach gave us good news with her return, and a preview of upcoming attractions with her play in the late season and post-season. We will need that consistently next year. Meanwhile, very likely, Hannah Stuelke's off-season knee surgery kept her from making any kind of off-season jump going into this past season. Now we need it to happen. Anyone who thinks she was even close to the player she was in 2023-'24 was not paying attention. But no matter where she plays, she must become the dominant player Caitlin Clark herself predicted she would be. At the same time, we have watched two Miss Nebraska basketball players put up fantastic years for the Nebraska Cornhuskers the last two seasons. Meanwhile, our wait for the one we got from Fremont, Nebraska to become a feared terror on the court - Taylor McCabe - continues. She did make some progress and her ballhandling is better. But her lack of ANY statistics against Oklahoma is beyond discouraging. She has to be a difference maker every single game now - somehow. Finally, while I made a fool of myself predicting that Jada Gyamfi could become the next Kate Martin, we need her to do all of her talking with her game. Putting in a Summer of Summers may still go some distance to allowing her to be a good addition to the team.
++Keep focusing on developing a top-notch point guard. Whether it is our incoming recruit or continued development with what we have, or even through the transfer portal, though it seems that lock-down post play (such as played by UCLA and Oklahoma) would be the way to get to the top, our success has shown that elite guard play is what can make a huge difference. Admittedly, you just can't snap your finger and here comes elite guard play. But Clark and then Olsen showed us just how far that could really go. Honestly, this year, we are not much of a team without Olsen.
++Ride the Caitlin Clark factor for as long as we can. The USC game showed what Iowa can still be - and we used that game to bring in several top recruits. While recruiting is unpredictable, as long as we can associate Iowa with Clark, maybe some more top recruits (like top recruit prospect Harpring from Georgia, who was visiting on USC day) will want to make Iowa their chance to become the next Clark.
Ultimately, what will next season look like? Well, we thought that Ava Jones was going to become a huge part of this team. Life happens - so do injuries - so do transfers and NIL realities. As long as we can stay healthy and manage those other areas, we may have more REALLY REALLY good Hawkeye women's basketball in our future.
++The (what will now be) sophomores must improve and become more consistent. We had some good moments with Ava Heiden, Taylor Stremlow, Teagan Mallegni and Aaliyah Guyton. But the wait for them to consistently produce lasted through the season - you just never knew what you were going to get, game in and game out. And too often, they still played the part of "freshmen" where the stage seemed almost too big for them. Although there is a rumor that Guyton may not be back, the rest of them are talented enough that some good off-season work should make a huge difference. If so, we have three exciting years ahead of us;
++The (what will now be) Sr's. need to become the key leaders and players on and off the court: Kylie Feuerbach gave us good news with her return, and a preview of upcoming attractions with her play in the late season and post-season. We will need that consistently next year. Meanwhile, very likely, Hannah Stuelke's off-season knee surgery kept her from making any kind of off-season jump going into this past season. Now we need it to happen. Anyone who thinks she was even close to the player she was in 2023-'24 was not paying attention. But no matter where she plays, she must become the dominant player Caitlin Clark herself predicted she would be. At the same time, we have watched two Miss Nebraska basketball players put up fantastic years for the Nebraska Cornhuskers the last two seasons. Meanwhile, our wait for the one we got from Fremont, Nebraska to become a feared terror on the court - Taylor McCabe - continues. She did make some progress and her ballhandling is better. But her lack of ANY statistics against Oklahoma is beyond discouraging. She has to be a difference maker every single game now - somehow. Finally, while I made a fool of myself predicting that Jada Gyamfi could become the next Kate Martin, we need her to do all of her talking with her game. Putting in a Summer of Summers may still go some distance to allowing her to be a good addition to the team.
++Keep focusing on developing a top-notch point guard. Whether it is our incoming recruit or continued development with what we have, or even through the transfer portal, though it seems that lock-down post play (such as played by UCLA and Oklahoma) would be the way to get to the top, our success has shown that elite guard play is what can make a huge difference. Admittedly, you just can't snap your finger and here comes elite guard play. But Clark and then Olsen showed us just how far that could really go. Honestly, this year, we are not much of a team without Olsen.
++Ride the Caitlin Clark factor for as long as we can. The USC game showed what Iowa can still be - and we used that game to bring in several top recruits. While recruiting is unpredictable, as long as we can associate Iowa with Clark, maybe some more top recruits (like top recruit prospect Harpring from Georgia, who was visiting on USC day) will want to make Iowa their chance to become the next Clark.
Ultimately, what will next season look like? Well, we thought that Ava Jones was going to become a huge part of this team. Life happens - so do injuries - so do transfers and NIL realities. As long as we can stay healthy and manage those other areas, we may have more REALLY REALLY good Hawkeye women's basketball in our future.
