How Lucy Olsen Helped Replace Caitlin Clark For Iowa Hawkeyes

From Collegeville, Pennsylvania, Lucy Olsen spent the first three seasons of her college career playing at Villanova. If she was on the men's basketball team, she would have been a superstar. Unfortunately, the Villanova women's basketball program doesn't have the same national reputation that the men's program has.

She averaged 23.3 points per game for Villanova in 2023-24, which put her behind only Iowa's Caitlin Clark — who had taken the sports world by storm with her 31.6 points per game — and JuJu Watkins from USC (27.1 points per game).

Olsen was essentially an unknown star at Villanova. So much so, in fact, that when she entered the transfer portal, LSU head coach Kim Mulkey apparently confessed that she didn't know who Olsen was.

“Kim Mulkey told her, ‘I’ve never heard of you before … until my assistant coach told me I should call you,’” Olsen’s father, Roland, relayed recently to Chad Leistikow of The Des Moines Register. “Here she was the No. 3 scorer in the country, and Kim Mulkey had no idea who she was.”

Then-Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder knew who Olsen was, though, so when the Hawkeyes called and asked her to bring her talents to Iowa City, a perfect match was found.

The thing for the Lady Hawkeyes is that they were looking to replace Clark, who became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. Nobody could really replace Clark and the cultural icon-status she brought to Iowa City in her final season, but the Hawkeyes needed a new scorer. They also needed someone who could keep the culture up in Jan Jensen's first season as head coach.

In Olsen, the Hawkeyes found that player. Not only is she averaging 17.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game, but she's been a great senior leader for the team this season.

“It's worked out really, really well,” assistant Abby Stamp told Leistikow. “Hands down, far and away, this kid is the type of person we want on our basketball team.

“She is such a hard worker, and that really sets the tone for this freshman class and everybody. You always worry when you lose a big (senior) class like we did last year. One of the hardest things is to keep that culture within the locker room. Lucy has been a big part of continuing to move us forward.""

That's the type of legacy you want to leave if you're a competitor like Olsen, and it's worth noting that she's not done. The Hawkeyes' final game of the regular season is against Wisconsin this Sunday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye arena.

Then it's on to the 2025 NCAA Women's Tournament.