When Lisa Bluder retired in May this year, the Iowa Hawkeyes were faced with a challenging task. They had to decide on the next head coach. After much consideration and pertinent reflection, the Hawkeyes promoted Jan Jensen from the position of associate head coach to that of the head coach. While Jensen looks to continue the Iowa tradition, she has her own preference for players. In a recent interview, Jensen named a certain player for her efficiency and no, it wasn’t Caitlin Clark or Kate Martin.

Jensen was present in an interview with Andrew Haubner at No Cap Space WBB on Tuesday when she gave her take on who according to her was the most efficient player. “Our last decade to 12 years has been really good here. We have Megan Gustafson who backs up A’ja Wilson now for the Aces. I will go to my grave believing that she was and is the best post player ever pound for pound, inch for inch of what she got out of her barely 6 foot 3 frame. And how efficient she was, and she dominated,” Jensen stated.

“I mean we got to the lead 8, and we finally hit Kalani Brown who played with Baylor when Kim Mulkey had the national championship game. We just didn’t have quite around Megan and then Megan was going to get against that six seven, but that’s then only one they still doubled. They still come with that double. I, she was, I tell any young boy or girl who wants to be a post player…I always have them watch that film,” Jensen shared via No Cap Space WBB on Tuesday.

Jensen was hired as the associate head coach in 2000 and since then she has worked with Bluder to take Iowa to new heights. And in between their journey, they came across Megan Gustafson who really helped the Hawkeyes prove their mettle to other NCAA teams. Winning the 2019 National Player of the Year, Gustafson averaged a double-double with 27.8 points and 13.4 rebounds per game while having 69.9% shooting efficiency. This helped the Hawkeyes reach the Elite Eight for the fourth time in their NCAA journey during the 2019 season.

One of the most memorable games was the Elite Eight game against Baylor which was headed by Kim Mulkey. Gustafson in her final NCAA appearance had another astounding display as she hit 23 points with 9 rebounds. The 6-foot-3-inch baller had to be guarded by two defenders in order to stop her from scoring. Though Baylor advanced to the next stage with an 85-53 tally, Gustafson was the lone warrior for her team and was applauded by all for her courage. But, that does not mean that Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin were any lesser.

Jan Jensen previously shared her motivation with Clark, Martin, and Gustafson

Jensen had attended the game between the Indiana Fever and the Las Vegas Aces in July. The clash was a reunion of sorts for Martin, Clark, and Gustafson who were playing for their respective teams. Jensen at such a moment didn’t shy away from supporting her former players. Instead, the Iowa-born took to her social media networking platform Instagram story to give a shout-out to the Iowa alumni.

“Watching our two fave @wnba teams and our fave @wnba players. We love you Megan, Caitlin & Kate,” Jensen wrote on her social media networking platform. Perhaps, it was this love that helped both the teams give their best as the Aces ultimately trumped the Fever by an 88-69 margin.

And now that Jensen has praised Gustafson perhaps she will play exceptionally well in the remaining eight games. As for Clark and Martin, this time they will have to find solace in the fact that Jensen loves Gustafson more than them.