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Over the past few seasons, the Hawkeyes have had some exceptional veteran leaders, and each of them has paved the way for the next in line—Kathleen Doyle, followed by Kate Martin, who was called the glue of the team on numerous occasions, and then most recently Syd Affolter. Now, with Affolter’s move from the court to the coaching staff, it’s time for someone new to step into the role as an emotional leader.
That tradition of leadership now extends down the ladder a couple of classes to sophomore Taylor Stremlow, who displayed moments of emotion and high energy during her first season with the program.
“Taylor’s got that Kate Martin, Syd Affolter kind of ability,” head coach Jan Jensen told the media on Thursday. “No matter how she might be playing or how she might be feeling, she’s able to get that out of herself and make sure that everybody else is good.”
It’s a roster that might, at times, need someone making sure that everyone else is good. A program that used to be built primarily on Midwest-grown talent now features players from across the country and beyond, including Georgia, California, Oregon, Alaska and the Dominican Republic. On top of that, they’re a very young group, with nine underclassmen and one junior that has played just 42 career minutes.
“The freshmen are working through some of their homesickness, and we’ve got Alaska to Georgia to the Dominican and some right here at home with Journey (Houston) and Callie (Levin),” said Jan Jensen. “It’s been kind of fun melding all of that.”
Still, this is not a team that is void of veteran voices, with Kylie Feuerbach, Hannah Stuelke and Taylor McCabe returning and combining for 322 career games played. Those three all contribute in their own ways, while McCabe and Feuerbach have mentioned wanting to take on more vocal roles this season, but it’s clear that Taylor Stremlow is cut from a similar cloth to the leaders that came before her.
“She could have a 104-degree fever, just missed 17 shots in a row and broken up with her boyfriend, but you wouldn’t know because she’s so busy hyping you up,” said Jensen.
“I’m going to try my best. I think showing up every day, being loud, trying to bring positive energy, is something I can definitely do,” Stremlow said. “It’s a controllable and during the best days, during the worst days, I think that’s something that can help boost the mood and the team morale.”
Getting through the best days and the worst, Stremlow says, is something she took away from her freshman season on a personal level and a team level. Although she carved out a solid role for herself, averaging 14.4 minutes per game, there were ups and downs. As for the team, the Hawkeyes endured a five-game losing streak but followed it up winning ten of their last 13 games heading into the NCAA Tournament. Taylor says she learned a lot from those experiences.
“Everyone’s human. Everybody has good days, everybody has bad days, and it’s just how you can play through them and leaning on your teammates,” said Stremlow. “I think that’s something we did exceptionally well last season. Coach Jan talks about staying the course and I think that was something we did really well.”
“You learn what you can get through, and I think that’s something that’s so awesome about sports. It translates a lot into life. You’re going to have highs and lows, and you’ve got to ride them out.”
As a freshman, Taylor appeared in all 34 games, including two starts, averaging 6.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.9 assists per 40 minutes. She rarely stood out in the scoring column, but earned minutes because of her ability to make winning plays and hustle plays that fired up the crowd.
“I think I did well trying to make a difference where I could, making good passes, taking my shots when I had them, and so I just want to continue doing that. Maybe be a little smarter, little less risky sometimes,” Stremlow said. “Main focus is just to stay consistent. Work hard, get up a lot of shots, get stronger in the weight room, getting faster, I’ve been working a lot on that.”
“Our ceiling is really high and there’s a lot of room to grow and a lot of success to be had with this group.”
