On April 7, the Iowa women’s basketball team fell just shy of its dreams of a national championship, losing to South Carolina 87-75 in the title game of the 2024 NCAA Women’s Tournament in Cleveland.

As it turns out, the event came to symbolize something other than the Hawkeyes making it to the biggest game in their sport for the second time in as many years: Unbeknownst to many at the time, it would be the last game of coach Lisa Bluder’s career.

On Monday, Bluder retired as Iowa’s coach after completing her 24th season at the school, marking the end of a long and decorated coaching career.
Bluder announced her retirement in the form of a letter she penned to “Hawkeye Nation,” describing her time at the helm of the program as “the honor of my career” while adding that she hopes she “can be an asset to our basketball program and this athletics department in any way that I am able” during her retirement.

It’s a momentous decision that instantly became one of the biggest stories in the world of women’s basketball, professional or college. With Bluder’s departure, women’s college basketball is losing one of its more accomplished and revered figures.

Here’s a look at why Bluder retired, what she achieved at Iowa, what’s next for the Hawkeyes and more:

Why is Lisa Bluder retiring as Iowa women’s basketball coach?

Bluder’s retirement — or at least the timing of it, one month after the end of the season — came as a bit of a surprise.
What prompted her choice? And why now?

In the letter she wrote announcing her retirement, Bluder said she spent time with her players and coaches since the end of the season preparing for the Hawkeyes’ next steps heading into the 2024-25 season. Bluder added, though, that doing so came with “personal contemplation about what this journey has meant to me, how to best champion this program, and what the future looks like for my family and me.”

After doing so, Bluder said, it “became clear to me that I am ready to step aside.”

Retiring, particularly from a sport you love so dearly, is a deeply personal decision, but even for an outside observer, Bluder’s choice is understandable.

Bluder has been a college head coach since 1984, when she took over at St. Ambrose, an NAIA school in Davenport, just one year after she finished her playing career at Northern Iowa. She coached six seasons there before moving on to Drake and since 2000, she has been at Iowa, making her one of the longest-tenured coaches in women’s college basketball.

Though it ultimately didn’t end with a championship, Bluder will be leaving the sport on something of a high note. The Hawkeyes advanced to the NCAA championship game in each of the past two seasons, the furthest the program had ever been in the event. Prior to that run, they had made just one Final Four, back in 1993 when the legendary C. Vivian Stringer was coach.

Perhaps making the decision a bit easier was the fact that Iowa was losing a number of key pieces from that 2023-24 team, namely guard Caitlin Clark, the two-time national player of the year and the NCAA Division I career scoring leader, men’s or women’s. Clark and Kate Martin, two of the Hawkeyes’ three leading scorers last season, were selected in the 2024 WNBA Draft, with Clark going No. 1 overall to the Indiana Fever.

Who is replacing Lisa Bluder as Iowa coach?

Within minutes of Bluder’s retirement announcement, her successor was revealed. For Iowa fans, it’s a familiar face.

Jan Jensen was named the Hawkeyes’ next coach in a release Monday from the university. Jensen has been Iowa’s associate head coach the past 20 seasons and had worked as an assistant under Bluder since 1993 at Drake, her alma mater.

Over the course of her career, Jensen has been heralded for her abilities as a recruiter and for her development of post players. She was described by Iowa as “integral” in the recruitments of McDonald’s All-Americans like Clark, Samantha Logic, Lindsay Richards and Johanna Solverson, and was widely praised for her work with 2019 Naismith Player of the Year Megan Gustafson, now a center for the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces.

“Coach Jensen has been an instrumental part of our success, assisting in all aspects of the program,” Iowa athletics director Beth Goetz said in a statement. “After several conversations with Coach Bluder and President (Barbara) Wilson over the last few days, it is clear that everything that we are seeking in a head coach, we have found right here.”

Lisa Bluder coaching record at Iowa

Bluder retires from Iowa with a 528-254 record in her time coaching the Hawkeyes, including a 262-145 mark in Big Ten play. She’s the all-time winningest coach in Big Ten women’s basketball history.

Under her watch, Iowa qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 14 of the past 16 years it was held, won the Big Ten Tournament five times and won a share of the Big Ten regular-season title twice.

Prior to arriving in Iowa City, Bluder went 188-105 in 10 seasons at Drake.

How old is Lisa Bluder?

Bluder turned 63 years old on April 16.

Lisa Bluder spouse
Among the slew of people Bluder referenced and thanked in her retirement announcement was her husband, David. Bluder said that her decision to retire “became clear” after she took some time away with David.

Bluder also thanked their three children, for “supporting me while I pursued my dreams and for their own sacrifices along the way.”