Iowa Coach Jan Jensen Admits Team Is Missing Player Leadership Post Caitlin Clark Era
The No. 23 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team suffered its second consecutive defeat on January 9 to Illinois, four days after they lost to the No. 8 ranked Maryland squad by a score of 74-66.
The Hawkeyes haven't lost two consecutive games since 2022 when Lisa Bluder was still the program's head coach and superstars Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin were on their roster.
However, current Hawkeyes head coach Jan Jensen made it clear that she doesn't want to hear any more comparisons between this year's team and those of the past when speaking with the media on January 9.
"I think it's really important for everybody to let this year's team be this year's team," Jensen said, per an X post from Hawkeyes HQ's Blake Hornstein. "Everybody keeps looking back and saying 'Oh, they didn't lose that [game].' And we didn't. We had a really good crew. They played together for four years.
"And so my job is to keep them here," Jensen continued. "There's a lot of season left. There is so much season, whether we would have won Sunday and would have won tonight. I can't afford to compare what has happened in the past. Because these guys are giving me a lot and they're still young."
She then added, "I've got to develop a little bit of senior leadership or upperclassmen leadership. I think that is what we're missing. But... I'm not interested in looking back or thinking about the future. I just really want to focus on the fact that I've got to keep finding the right combination."
The Hawkeyes have now lost back to back Big Ten games for the first time since Caitlin Clark's freshman season at Iowa.
— Blake Hornstein (@BlakeHornTV) January 10, 2025
Jan Jensen's group now faces a bit of adversity:
"There's a lot of season left...I cannot afford to compare what has happened in the past..." pic.twitter.com/fTFZimzPMx
It will be interesting to see how the Hawkeyes rebound from these defeats. Their first opportunity to do so comes against Indiana on January 12.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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