The Iowa Hawkeyes took the college basketball world by storm this past season on the back of Caitlin Clark’s excellent play. But her departure to the WNBA won’t be the only change the program has to endure in the 2024-25 season, as longtime head coach Lisa Bluder decided on Monday to call it quits on her coaching career.
Bluder’s coaching career dates all the way back to 1984 at St. Ambrose College in Iowa. She spent six seasons at the school before accepting the head coaching gig for the Drake Bulldogs.
Ten years later, she departed from Drake to become head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes, where she has spent the last 24 years after taking the job in 2000.
Over the course of her illustrious career, she recorded 884 career wins, which ranks as the 11th most of any women’s college basketball coach in the history of the sport.
On Monday, Bluder shared a statement via the Iowa Hawkeyes team website to announce her retirement after 24 years with the program.
“It is with a range of emotions that I share with you today that I have decided to step down from leading the Iowa women’s basketball team after 24 memorable years,” wrote Bluder. “I informed President Wilson and Director of Athletics Beth Goetz of my decision and I am grateful for their unwavering support and offered them my assistance in any manner in the future.”
Bluder went on to thank the Iowa fanbase and her former players for their support over the years.
The goal of any coach is to leave a job better than you found it. Bluder has done that on several fronts, both in terms of team success and in terms of the overall popularity of the team and the sport in general. And for that, she should certainly receive a ton of praise.
