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It’s said that all good things must come to an end. That will undoubtedly be true for the No. 21 Iowa Hawkeyes as they begin the 2025-26 season.
The four remaining players who were part of the Caitlin Clark era will play out their final season before sold-out crowds at Carver-Hawkeye Arena: Hannah Stuelke, Kylie Feuerbach, Taylor McCabe and Jada Gyamfi. The four were present as Iowa soared to national prominence from 2021 to 2024. They went to two national championship games in 2023 and 2024, carving a place in the hearts of virtually every youngster from Iowa City to Dyersville. Collectively, they made those kids want to aspire to pick up a ball and wear the black and yellow.
Each of them has their own unique personality and traits, and just as they came in together, they will go out together.
She may be soft spoken, but her game speaks volumes. Since arriving in 2022 at the height of Hawkeyemania, Hannah Stuelke has emerged as a fan favorite. Her tenacious rebounding, light touch with the ball and quickness up and down the floor is unforgettable.
Along the way, Stuelke garnered some notable accomplishments. Among those are being named the Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year in 2023 and a two-time Second Team All-Big Ten selection. She is the 44th player in program history to reach 1,000 points, has 11 career double-doubles and 10-career 20-point games. On February 8, 2024, Stuelke score a career high 47 points against Penn State. Plus, she is one of only 20 players to have more than 1,100 points and 600 rebounds.
During Iowa Media Day on Tuesday, head coach Jan Jansen said that Stuelke has grown increasingly confident with all that she has achieved and experienced:
I think it’s a constant progression. Hannah is very much more comfortable just letting her play do her talking. So we’re working on that. But I thought her Big Ten Media Day, it was fun to see her when we flew back. She was beaming. She actually used the word, “That was fun,” and I’ve never heard her say media was fun before. Not that she didn’t like it, but some kids are a little bit more at ease. That’s just not a thing that’s enjoyable for her. But I think she did a great job there, and I think she’s really leaning into probably for the first year really trying to get out of that comfort zone.
Stuelke herself is amazed at how fast the time went by. She looks forward to the simple pleasure of savoring each day with her teammates that she came up with, sharing:
Me, Taylor and Jada had been playing together for six years. I think it will be a little sad when we’re done, but I think it’s important that we just enjoy every moment, good and bad, and stay in the moment because only got so much time left.
Following in the footsteps of Kate Martin, Kylie Feuerbach joins that elite group of “super seniors” as she plays for her sixth and final season at Iowa.
She is coming off her most productive season yet, in which she was in the starting rotation. Last season, Feuerbach led the Hawkeyes with 43 total steals on the year, had four or more assists eight times and averaged a career best 6.7 points per game.
When she leaves Iowa, Feuerbach wants to be remembered for being a player who was purely coachable, up for the challenge, and willing to do whatever her team asked of her, saying at media day:
Embracing the role, whatever the role is. That’s my most important thing. I always want to be in a position where I can help benefit the team no matter what that is, whether that’s defensively, offensively, whatever they need from me is what I want to be my impact.
From the bench to the premier perimeter shooter describes Taylor McCabe’s journey. Much like Feuerbach, she gradually worked her way up the ladder to where she was entrusted to do what she was called upon to do. Sometimes coming off the bench to provide relief or sometimes starting, depending on the opponent.
As a result, McCabe became the 21st Hawkeye to net 100-career 3-pointers, recorded four or more 3-pointers in a game on 10 occasions and scored 10 or more points nine times. Against Penn State and Nebraska, McCabe scored a career high 17 points while shooting 5-for-8 from beyond the arc.
McCabe wants to be seen as an example of mastering the role of a pure shooter for future Hawkeyes, explaining:
I think that going forward in terms of this team’s basketball culture, when the coaches have to use a shooter as an example going forward, they choose you, that would be pretty special. They always have a lot of nice things to say to me and to others about my shooting. If that could be me, that would be pretty special.
With her wide-eyed smile and passion for the game and her teammates, Jada Gyamfi has brought unabashed joy to the program. Whether she was on the bench getting her teammates to jam out to a tune during a brief stop in the action or stepping onto the floor for even a few minutes, Gyamfi was happy to play her role.
On December 2, 2024, she scored a career-high seven points against Bowling Green and played in 11 games. In two games, Gyamfi scored five points. All the while, she is building her brand off the floor with her podcast Get Ready with Jada Gyamfi on the Taco-Bout Network, in which she features many of her teammates past and present.
While she pursues a teaching degree, Gyamfi’s broadcasting dreams remain alive and well, as she shared at media day:
There’s never a closed door when it comes to podcasting and sports broadcasting. You never know, I went to school to be a teacher, but I feel like in today’s day and age, there are doors literally open everywhere.
This year, Jan Jensen will begin her second full season as head coach. She was there through all of the hoopla, at the side of her friend and mentor, former head coach Lisa Bluder. In her first year, she led the Hawkeyes to their ninth-consecutive 20-win season, secured a No.6 seed in the NCAA Tournament and made it all the way to the Sweet 16. Not to mention, Jensen was at the helm when Iowa secured an upset win over USC at home on February 2, which was the day Clark’s jersey was retired.
Fast forward, and she will begin her sophomore season with the youngest group of players the program has seen since 2012. Over half of the roster is made up of freshmen and sophomores. The freshmen include Addie Deal, Layla Hays and Journey Houston. The returning sophomores are Ava Heiden, Taylor Stremlow and Teegan Mallegni. Meanwhile, Chazadi “Chit-Chat” Wright, Callie Levin and Emely Rodriguez are coming out of the transfer portal. Kennise Johnson is the lone junior on the team.
When it comes to “Coach J”, as the players call her, she has left an indelible impression on the “Final Four”.
This season will not be a case of out with the old, in with the new. It is more of a matter of building on the past to help lead to a brighter future. Iowa, ranked No. 21 in the AP preseason poll, will begin its season on Nov. 3 against Southern University at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
