"That was the plan all along", Hawkeyes set to go back to the 4-out, 1-in offense

Even though the Iowa women’s basketball team was highly successful this past season, the type of offensive scheme they decided to use caused some angst amongst the fanbase at times. It wasn’t what they were used to seeing in prior seasons with players like Caitlin Clark and Lucy Olsen running the show. That drew some criticism, but the fact is, going to the high-low offense was a necessary move with personnel they had. That being said, it was never meant to be used in the long-term and now, they’ll go back to the offense that Hawkeye fans have come to know.

“I learned from Lisa (Bluder), who I believe was one of the best and I think every year you kind of have to look at where your strengths are perceived to lie,” said Jensen. “A lot of times you’ll recruit to your system, but you might think someone is going to be xyz, and she’s really abc, but if you try to make xyz fit into the abc slots, it’s going to be tough sledding.”

A three-time All-Big Ten performer for the Hawkeyes, Hannah Stuelke did a lot of great things over the course of her career, but her midrange game never developed enough for her to consistently play on the perimeter. With Ava Heiden blossoming into one of the top centers in the country, the coaching staff didn’t have the luxury of playing Stuelke in the post. So midseason, they adjusted and went to a high-low offense. They were able to parlay that into a 27-7 season and a second-place finish in the Big Ten standings.

“I do think it’s wise as a coach to be nimble, to able to change on the fly, and that was one of the things we did last year. I really felt like to get Hannah (Stuelke) on the floor alongside with Ava (Heiden), we needed to be a little more high-low post with some of the guard play.”

The change was only meant to be a one-year fix. With Stuelke’s departure to graduation, the power forward position is now in the hands of five-star forward McKenna Woliczko who is set to arrive on campus in just a couple of weeks. While Stuelke was more of a post-forward, Woliczko’s skillset is that of a wing-forward, which will fit well with the Hawkeyes move back to the 4-out, 1-in offense.

“This year, we’re shifting back, we’re going back to the four out, one in, which fans would be more accustomed to when Lucy Olsen was here, when Caitlin and company were here,” said Jensen. “That’s just knowing the strengths of McKenna Woliczko, our prized freshman coming in. She faces a lot better, she plays more like a guard, and Hannah was a little bit more of a post that could face, so this makes sense, and that was the plan all along.”

“She is just a beautiful player. If you watch her, she’s a pretty player the way she runs the floor and her IQ. She’s a big guard, smaller forward, smaller post and she’s going to be really fun to worth with because she can just do so much…she has all the potential to really be a tremendous impact player this year.”

The other thing the coaching staff did is they went and made a couple impact additions to their backcourt via the transfer portal. They lost two players to graduation and two more to the portal, leaving them with only Chit-Chat Wright and Taylor Stremlow. However, it gave them the ability to go find a player or two that filled areas of weakness from last season.

“Watching past year unfold, we felt we were a playmaking guard away from some more efficient play and another win or two.”

They made four portal additions in total, but Dani Carnegie (UGA) and Amari Whiting (OSU) were the two biggest. Carnegie, an All-SEC selection, averaged 17.8 points per game for the Bulldogs and possesses the ability to get downhill better than anyone the Hawkeyes have had since Caitlin Clark graduated. Meanwhile, Whiting will fill the role of defensive stopper, but she also has the ability to create and get to the basket, giving the Hawkeyes a bit more offensive punch at that position.

“We went into this offseason, even within the year, knowing that would probably be an area that we really wanted to focus on,” said Jensen. “That bucket getter type of guard that can break someone down, that could create a shot when we needed one, when everything else broke down or if the play busted up…with Dani Carnegie, we have one of the best guards in the country that can create and set up her teammates.”

“Amari can play defense. We lost Kylie (Feuerbach), but Amari is a scorer and she can get downhill too. She can score it. She’s got a beautiful midrange floater. We got a little bit of creation with a defender.”

At this point, the roster turnover is complete. Compared to anything else the Hawkeyes have experienced, this felt like a whirlwind of moves. And to a certain extent, it was. There were four losses to graduation, five losses to the portal, four transfer additions and two incoming freshmen. Now the real question is whether this roster is built to match last year’s Big Ten success and make a deeper run in March.

“I really do. I feel like we addressed some areas of need and I think we’ve filled some of the things that either graduated or transferred and we’ve got about as good of a shot as you can,” said Jensen. “We’ve added some good pieces, so I think we’re off to a good start, but I’m anxious to get them here. We’re going to start June 15ish and we’ll get to see them in action, and I think it’s going to be a really exciting year.”