Iowa's Jan Jensen Sends Sincere Message About 'Rookie' Coach Award Win
Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball coach Jan Jensen had extremely big shoes to fill during the 2024-25 NCAA season after taking over the Hawkeyes program from the legendary Lisa Bluder, who retired after leading her team to two consecutive NCAA national championship games.
Of course, Jensen's task was made even more difficult considering that her first season as head coach came without generational talent Caitlin Clark, who left Iowa for the WNBA after losing in the 2024 NCAA national championship game.
But that didn't stop Jensen from producing another successful campaign, leading a new-look Hawkeyes roster to a 23-11 record and an appearance in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
As a result of this season, it was announced on April 2 that Jensen was named the 2025 NCAA Division I Rookie Coach of the Year, which, "honors a Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) member NCAA Division I head coach who has led their team to a successful season during their first year on the sideline."
National Rookie Coach of the Year 🤩@goiowa x @WBCA1981 #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/aSiZaqzEBd
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) April 2, 2025
Jensen addressed this award win with a powerful message on April 3. She wrote on X, "How ‘bout being a rook at this age & stage?😉 Thx to so many for your kind comments regarding the recent “rookie” recognition!
B1G thx to my fam, team & especially to my staff.Huge kudos to them & “our” recognition!
Also,Thx @WBCA1981 for this acknowledgement & for all you do!"
How ‘bout being a rook at this age & stage?😉Thx to so many for your kind comments regarding the recent “rookie” recognition!
— Jan Jensen (@goiowa) April 3, 2025
B1G thx to my fam, team & especially to my staff.🙌🏼Huge kudos to them & “our” recognition!
Also,Thx @WBCA1981 for this acknowledgement & for all you do!
It will be fascinating to see how Jensen can build on this rookie season's success during her team's 2025-26 campaign.
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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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