Legendary Iowa women’s basketball head coach Lisa Bluder retires

The GIST: As you read, legendary Iowa women’s basketball HC Lisa Bluder announced her retirement on Monday after 40 years as a HC — 24 of them with the Hawkeyes. Don’t cry because it’s over, celebrate that we got to do it together.

Her impact: Bluder’s most famous for shaping Iowa’s Caitlin Clark era, but she was crushing it long before Clark became a Hawkeye. Her 884 career dubs (528 at Iowa) make her the all-time winningest women’s hoops coach in Big Ten history — she ranks 10th on the NCAA women’s list. Bluder also led the Hawkeyes to 18 NCAA tourneys, including 14 of the last 16 editions.

• Even so, her landmark accomplishment might be convincing Clark to come to Iowa. Overseeing the development of the college GOAT was no small task, but Bluder’s reward was a big one: helping usher in a women’s basketball revolution.

Her successor: Following the familiar playbook of handing the reins to a program veteran whom players already trust, Bluder named her former player and longtime work wife, assistant coach Jan Jensen, as her successor. Known for her recruiting prowess and skill in training post players, next season will be Jensen’s 25th at Iowa — but her first running the show.

• In the transfer portal era, continuity between coaching regimes is increasingly important — and as Clark said on Monday, Jensen is the perfect choice to keep the Hawkeyes dancing on the sport’s biggest stages.