It is the best of times for Lisa Bluder.
As she navigates through the early half of her 23rd year as the head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes, she is in the prime of her career. She’s guiding the defending national runner ups—currently the No. 4 team in the nation—and witnessing the ascendance of a once-in-a generation talent in Caitlin Clark. All before sold out crowds at home and on the road. And coinciding with a surge in popularity for women’s college basketball.
Currently, the Hawkeyes stand at 10-1, coming off a 87-65 victory over Wisconsin last Sunday that kicked off conference play. Bluder also recently won her 500th game as the Hawkeyes’ head coach during the Gulf Coast Showcase over Thanksgiving weekend. She currently has 863 wins in total.
Her resume includes:
- 3x Big Ten Coach of the Year (2001, 2008, 2010)
- Naismith Coach of the Year (2019)
- 4x Big Ten tournament champion (2001, 2019, 2022, 2023)
- 2x Big Ten regular-season champion (2008, 2022)
- 4x MVC tournament champion (1995, 1997, 1998, 2000)
- 3x MVC regular-season champion (1997, 1998, 2000)
With all the success and the hype surrounding the Hawkeyes, as well as the dynamic shift amongst the roster, Bluder utilizes two of her strongest attributes—confidence and perspective—to describe the current…
