Before the legend of Caitlin Clark ever lit up Carver-Hawkeye Arena, there was another name echoing through the halls in Iowa City. Long before Clark arrived in 2020 and became a nationwide sensation, this one was the cornerstone of Hawkeye women’s basketball. From 2015 to 2019, she didn’t just play—she defined an era. “She’s a really, really special talent,” Indiana Coach Teri Moren said during the 2019 Big Ten coaches’ teleconference. That sentiment wasn’t unique. Coaches across the conference—and across the country—knew what kind of force she was. And perhaps no one knew it better than Jan Jensen.

Fast forward to now, with Jensen stepping into the head coaching role for Iowa women’s basketball following the retirement of Lisa Bluder, it’s Megan Gustafson—not just Caitlin Clark—who has been a steady and heartfelt support for her old coach.

In a recent appearance on On Iowa Live, Jensen opened up about the emotional support she’s received as she transitions into head coaching. “I think Caitlin, Megan Gustafson—I mean, they still text me all the time,” she shared, visibly touched. “Usually when the chips are down, right? That’s when people are like, hey, you got this.”

And Jan did get it.

In her first season at the helm, she led the Hawkeyes to a 23–11 record, a berth in the NCAA Tournament, and earned Rookie Coach of the Year honors. Among the flurry of congratulations on social media was a short but powerful message from Megan Gustafson, now with the Las Vegas Aces: “Not surprised!”

What makes this bond even more special is that Gustafson never actually played under Jensen as a head coach. During Megan’s Iowa run from 2015 to 2019, Lisa Bluder was in charge, and Jensen was the longtime associate head coach. But the connection between Jensen and Gustafson ran deep.

“She was that type of impacting person, not just player,” Jensen once said of Megan. “The most impressive thing about her ride was she never changed. She was as humble and hardworking her last day at Iowa as her first day.” That humility has stuck with Gustafson, even as she’s grown into a WNBA presence and, more recently, an Olympian. Last summer, she helped lead Spain to the quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics, notching a team-high 21 points and seven boards in their final game against Belgium.

Then, in one of the most heartwarming moments of the year, Gustafson flew straight from Paris back to Iowa and surprised Jensen in her office, coffee in hand. The reaction? Pure joy. “Are you serious? Oh my god!” Jensen exclaimed, eyes welling up as she embraced her former star. “I’m crying!” That wasn’t just a coffee run—it was a full-circle moment.

Megan Gustafson’s journey started in tiny Port Wing, Wisconsin, and led her to Iowa as a quiet, quirky freshman in 2015. She left four years later as the program’s most decorated player, racking up 2,804 points and 1,460 rebounds—both school records—and becoming the first Big Ten athlete to be named consensus National Player of the Year. In 2020, her No. 10 jersey was retired, making her just the second woman in Iowa history to receive that honor, after Michelle Edwards.

Yet for all her accolades, Gustafson stayed grounded. Jensen remembered hosting a team viewing party early in Gustafson’s freshman year, where Megan quietly kept to herself. “I was like, whoa, this is a whole new deal for her. Being comfortable took her a while, but once she hit her stride, she took off.”

She sure did. In 2019, she led Iowa to its first Big Ten tournament title in nearly two decades and an Elite Eight run, their deepest NCAA Tournament finish in 26 years. And even as her name climbed into national headlines, she remained the same offbeat, team-first personality her teammates had always known.

“She’s just that much of a legend around here,” her teammate Hannah Stewart said. And that “legend” status doesn’t stop at her stats—it’s about how she carried herself, and how she still carries others, like Jensen.

Caitlin Clark has deservedly taken center stage in recent years after her.

Jan Jensen gives her final verdict on Caitlin Clark’s rise

Caitlin and Jensen’s dynamic set off when the current HC and Lisa Bluder flew down to Thailand to recruit the No.4 prospect of her class. Clark was playing for USA U19 team then and the coaches wanted to put in every effort to make their interest visible. After the trip, Jensen even admittedly posted, “I came all the way to [eat crickets], for you.” It seemed to have worked. 

Clark took Iowa from a strong program to a national phenomenon. Every home game sold out during her senior year — a first in school history. On the road, it was the same. Wherever Iowa played, attendance records shattered. A preseason exhibition drew 55,646 fans. The 2024 Big Ten tournament? Sold out for the first time ever.

And off the court? Her impact might’ve been even bigger. She earned praise from rap icons like Travis Scott and Ice Cube, sports legends like Tom Brady and LeBron James, and even caught the attention of President Joe Biden. Forbes called it Clarkomics — a cultural shift where women athletes were breaking into the mainstream. But it was also more about the bond they’d build along the journey. 

Pulling each other’s legs on social media, silly conversations, calling out weakness, but also recognizing their stories. “The only option there ever was!!!” Clark would write as Jensen moved up to the head coaching position. And for the latter, CC was a rare talent. “When you have a person like Caitlin, arguably the greatest of all time… everybody always asks me, ‘Why was she so magnetic? Why was she the one?’” Jensen said during  KCRG’s On Iowa Live. “She was the only one doing what only one other player was doing — and that was Steph Curry. End of story.”

Megan Gustafson and Caitlin Clark may have been icons to the rest of the world, but back in the Iowa gym, for Jensen, they are the players she nurtured, watched grow, and built bonds lasting for a lifetime.