The Iowa Hawkeyes defeated a resilient West Virginia Mountaineers team on Monday night to move to the Sweet 16. Even though it was a tough game according to Caitlin Clark, they managed to overcome their opponents on the back of some solid coaching by Lisa Bluder. Following this big win, the Hawkeyes’ head coach has activated a clause that will make her richer.

Iowa’s head coach Lisa Bluder will get a mid-tournament reward as the Hawkeyes advance to Sweet 16. With their 64-54 victory in the second round, Lisa Bluder will be rewarded with a $50000 bonus and an additional pay increase of $20000 beginning next season, as per USA Today reporter Steve Berkowitz.

Notably, for 2024, Coach Bluder is getting a total pay of $1400000 from the school, with a School Buyout of $7000000. This buyout takes into account the impact of two events which automatically put things into motion. The first one is the 1-year contract extension that coach Bluder is set to receive for the team winning the Big Ten Conference tournament and playing in the NCAA Tournament. Her contract can have a maximum length of 7 years.

Additionally, Bluder will receive an automatic increase in base salary for the 2024-25 season. Bottom line, Coach Bluder now has $160000 in bonuses, a 2-year automatic career extension, and a $100000 pay increase from next season, which translates to 2 additional years set to be worth a total of $3 million, with $2.2 million guaranteed.

Per Front Office Sports, Bluder was the 8th highest-paid women’s D1 coach ahead of the season. In contrast to her $1.4 million per year salary, LSU’s Kim Mulkey earns $3.2 million per year, putting her top of the list. So these bonuses will be welcomed by Bluder.

Looking at Coach Bluder’s career, she holds a 494-249 record at school and an 850-391 career record. She can increase these numbers as the Hawkeyes continue to progress in the NCAA tournament. But who does Iowa face next?

History is about to repeat itself

Now, as the Hawkeyes have transitioned themselves to compete in the tournament’s next step of Sweet 16, they are set to again face the Colorado Buffaloes, exactly like they did last season. The matchup has been scheduled for Saturday, March 30th, and will be a visual delight for the already nail-biting fans.

Last season, the Hawkeyes confronted the Buffaloes on March 25th, 2023, and grabbed an 87-77 victory. With most predictions favoring the Hawkeyes this time as well, let’s still wait for this nostalgic face-off, as things can be unpredictable, given today’s reality check to the Hawkeyes by the Mountaineers.

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