Sydney Affolter details her offseason knee surgery and what’s next for her to return to Iowa women’s basketball
Sydney Affolter details her offseason knee surgery and what’s next for her to return to Iowa women’s basketball
The Iowa women’s basketball team will start the season outside of the USA TODAY Sports preseason coaches Top 25.
The poll was released on Thursday, and the Hawkeyes fell just short of making the Top 25. Coach Jan Jensen’s team received the fifth-most votes of teams not in the Top 25.
Jensen is embarking on her first season as head coach after a long stint as Lisa Bluder’s assistant. Bluder announced her retirement in May, not long after the Hawkeyes advanced to the NCAA championship game for the second consecutive year.
With superstar Caitlin Clark now playing in the WNBA, the Hawkeyes have some work to do to convince women’s basketball observers that they’re among the nation’s best teams.
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USA TODAY Sports women’s basketball preseason coaches top 25
1, South Carolina; 2, UConn; 3. USC; 4, Texas; 5, Notre Dame; 6. UCLA; 7. LSU; 8. NC State; 9, Iowa State; 10, Oklahoma; 11, Duke; 12, Baylor; 13, Kansas State; 14, Ohio State; 15, West Virginia; 16, North Carolina; 17. Louisville; 18, Maryland; 19, Florida State; 20, Creighton; 21. Mississippi; 22, Kentucky; 23, Nebraska; 24, Indiana; 25, Alabama
Others receiving votes: Gonzaga 49; TCU 37; Stanford 32; Tennessee 32; Iowa 28; Utah 25; South Dakota State 22; Oregon State 21; Princeton 18; Colorado 15; Virginia Tech 10; Illinois 9; Middle Tennessee 8; Fairfield 7; California 6; Richmond 6; Auburn 5; Florida Gulf Coast 4; Miami (Fla.) 4; UNLV 4; South Florida 3; George Mason 2; Cleveland State 1; Michigan 1; Saint Joseph’s 1.
The USA TODAY Sports Board of Coaches is made up of 31 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. The board for the 2024-25 season: Ashleen Bracey, Illinois-Chicago; Jen Brown, Queens University; Dan Burt, Duquesne; Fred Chmiel, Bowling Green; Janell Crayton Del Rosario, Bethune-Cookman; Denise Dillon, Villanova; Carrie Eighmey, South Dakota; Dalila Eshe, Yale; Heather Ezell, Wyoming; Bill Fennelly, Iowa State; Cindy Fisher, San Diego; Aqua Franklin, Lamar; Ty Grace, Howard; Hana Haden, Georgia Southern; Johnnie Harris, Auburn; Brian Holsinger, Montana; Rick Insell, Middle Tennessee; Renee Jimenez, UC Santa Barbara; Chris Kielsmeier, Cleveland State; Mike Lane, NJIT; Amy Mallon, Drexel; Mike McGuire, Radford; Kim McNeill, East Carolina; Lynn Milligan, Rider; Dan Nielson, Utah Valley; Shawn Poppie, Clemson; Samantha Quigley Smith, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville; Missy Traversi, Army; Jonathan Tsipis, Western Carolina; Way Veney, Central Connecticut State; Coquese Washington, Rutgers.
More: Why Sydney Affolter’s knee surgery could help Iowa women’s basketball in the long run
