Inside The Hawkeyes

Iowa HC Working Overtime To Land Five-Star Guard

During her official visit with the Iowa Hawkeyes, Jan Jensen may have done enough to convince this five-star shooting guard to join the team.
Jordon Lawrenz|
Johnston's Jenica Lewis (10) shoots a three during the Class 5A final against Dowling Catholic on Friday, March 7, 2025, at Wells Fargo Arena.
Johnston's Jenica Lewis (10) shoots a three during the Class 5A final against Dowling Catholic on Friday, March 7, 2025, at Wells Fargo Arena. | Cody Scanlan/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Iowa Hawkeyes

Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball head coach Jan Jensen has a chance to put together one of the greatest recruiting classes in program history. With McKenna Woliczko already committed, she knows she can now put her full attention into the likes of Addison Bjorn and Jenica Lewis.

Lewis, who hadn't been projected to come to Iowa, now has a real-shot to commit to the Hawkeyes. Jensen won the five-star shooting guard over during her official visit which took place during Iowa's 41-3 routing over Minnesota.

Moving forward, Jensen will remain in constant contact with the Johnston, IA, native, who has yet to set an official commitment date. At the end of the day, Jensen knows this is a player she's poured her heart into and would love to bring to the team.

Could Jenica Lewis Join McKenna Woliczko?

For the longest time, it seemed like Bjorn was a lock to join Woliczko. That may still be the case, but Lewis has suddenly seen her name join the mix. If Jensen could land all three of these players, it would put the nation on notice.

Jensen, entering her second year as head coach, knows she has a young team for the upcoming season. She isn't shying away from that, but with potentially three top-recruits on the way in 2026, her team certainly wouldn't be getting any older.

Iowa earned themselves a No. 21 ranking in the AP Top 25 preseason poll. Their season begins with a few warm-up games before they head to Orlando to play No. 16 Baylor and Miami. Lewis will be watching closely, but Iowa would love it if she made up her mind sooner rather than later.

The Competition For Jenica Lewis

Recently, 247Sports' David Eickholt logged an expert prediction that the Hawkeyes would land Lewis. This comes as a bit of a surprise as Notre Dame had long been favored for the No. 4 shooting guard in the Class of 2026.

It's far too early to assume that Lewis will indeed commit to Iowa, but it's clear everything Jensen did with her on her official visit helped big time. Iowa has been competing with the likes of Notre Dame and North Carolina, along with teams like TCU and Oregon. Out of those five, Iowa was the first to offer on February 3, 2025.

For what it's worth, Eickholt is 2/2 in his crystal ball predictions this season. He's 123/131 all-time, so him indicating that Lewis is heading to Iowa should be all Hawkeyes fans need to hear. Landing Woliczko on October 1 was step one, but the addition of Lewis could almost certainly guarantee that Bjorn will join them.

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Jordon Lawrenz
JORDON LAWRENZ

Jordon Lawrenz serves as the Eastern United States College Recruiting beat writer On SI. Jordon is an accomplished writer covering the NFL, MLB, and college football/basketball. He has contributed to PFSN’s and Heavy’s NFL coverage. Having graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay with a Sports Communication and Journalism degree, Jordon fully embraced the sports writing lifestyle upon his relocation to Florida.

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