When the Iowa Hawkeyes fell to the South Carolina Gamecocks in the NCAA championship in March, the team faced more tough news in the months that followed. While it was expected that Caitlin Clark would leave for the WNBA, only a few anticipated that alongside Clark’s April draft into the WNBA, Iowa Head Coach Lisa Bluder would also announce her retirement after 24 years at Iowa. Many people speculated that Lisa Bluder’s retirement was a direct result of Caitlin Clark’s departure, but it turns out that wasn’t the case after what Bluder’s successor Jan Jensen has revealed.

Recently, Jan Jensen, the Iowa current head coach has shed light on how events actually unfolded post the Iowa Hawkeyes’ NCAA heartbreak. “When the run was so fun and then we went on the wooden, you know, Award Tour with Caitlin and then the draft and all the things it got push back right, and so I think by that time um, nobody was thinking about, you know, anybody retiring,” said Jensen via No Cap Space WBB.

However, it didn’t go the way everyone thought as Jensen later revealed what Lisa Bluder said while talking about her retirement. “But when Lisa went on vacation, I think the sweetest thing she said when she came back and told myself and Jenny actually was she said, ‘it just dawned to me I just want to be a mom, ‘” said Jensen. The retired Iowa head coach is a mother to three kids and her son David Jr. Bluder is a senior player at Grinnell College, an academic high school. 

Jensen elaborated on Lisa’s decision and mentioned, “Every coach will tell you it’s not a complaint, it is just facts. You, you watch everybody else’s kids play more than your own and you don’t really see a lot of the morning YMCA leagues for your little guys.” When Lisa Bluder decided to step down from her role as head coach, the responsibility fell to Jan Jensen, who had been Bluder’s trusted assistant.

While Jensen’s story clearly reveals that Caitlin Clark’s move to the WNBA did not influence Bluder’s retirement, the mutual admiration between coach and player is undeniable.

A coach and player bond: Lisa Bluder and Caitlin Clark’s admiration towards each other

Lisa Bluder had the privilege of coaching Caitlin Clark since her freshman year when Clark first took the court as a point guard in 2020. Over the four years shared with now WNBA rookie, Bluder has never missed a moment to appreciate Clark’s excellence.

“She’s absolutely amazing. She has been consistent throughout her entire career, but when the spotlight is on, she is at her very best at that time. We always knew there was something special about her. She’s always been a little different in a good way,” stated Lisa Bluder earlier in her interview with Good Morning America.

Well, Caitlin Clark herself holds immense respect for her former coach, which balances their coach-player bond perfectly. “Coach Bluder is a Hall of Fame coach. I think the biggest thing for me throughout the recruiting process that I loved about her is she’s a player’s coach. She’s not going to have a set offense that you have to run,” stated Clark during her final year at Iowa.

Together, Bluder and Clark led Iowa to consecutive Final Fours, though the elusive NCAA championship remained just out of reach. “Over the course of my four years, I don’t know if I would have the type of success I do if I didn’t have amazing teammates but also a coach who really allows me to be myself,” said Clark. Despite not securing that championship, Clark remains deeply grateful to her head coach as she now shines on the WNBA stage, emerging as a leading Rookie of the Year contender.