Caitlin Clark pays tribute to retiring Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder after two national championship appearances together: ‘Thank you for believing in me more than anyone’
Caitlin Clark paid tribute to her former head coach, Lisa Bluder, who stepped down from the helm of the Iowa women’s basketball program on Monday.
Clark was recruited as a prime in-state talent by Bluder, who also coached the now-Indiana Fever star for her entire collegiate career.
Together, Clark and Bluder were at the forefront of the skyrocket in interest of college women’s basketball.
A Bluder-led Hawkeyes team, with Clark as the focal point, were the only team to be part of all four NCAA Tournament games over the last two years to set the all-time viewership record for a women’s college basketball game.
Over a 13-month period, Clark and Bluder helped the viewership record more than double to 18.7million for Iowa-South Carolina’s national championship showdown last month.
Clark led Iowa to back-to-back national-championship appearances with Bluder in charge
Bluder steps down after 24 seasons leading Iowa and was previously the head coach at Drake
Simply no one better at building a team… Thank you for believing in me more than anyone 🤍 Enjoy retirement, coach. Very much deserved 🥹 https://t.co/XnxmteSCTq
— Caitlin Clark (@CaitlinClark22) May 13, 2024
Bluder was the head coach at Iowa since 2000 and also lead the programs at Drake and St. Ambrose.
Bluder’s longtime assistant Jan Jensen was quickly named as her replacement as Iowa’s head coach on Monday.
The most successful period of Bluder’s career came with Clark on her roster, as she only made the Elite Eight in her previous seasons coaching before the last two years.
Bluder led Iowa to a postseason berth in all but two seasons in charge in 2007 and 2020, the latter being due to the coronavirus pandemic.
