South Carolina. USC. Notre Dame.
All three of those schools are blue-blood women’s college basketball programs. And Iowa beat out those three plus fellow Big Ten finalist Ohio State for the talents of five-star McKenna Woliczko, who committed to the Hawkeyes on Wednesday.
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It’s a huge recruiting win for head coach Jan Jensen and the start of a new era of Hawkeyes basketball. An era where they become a blue-blood women’s college basketball program.
You could make an argument that the Hawkeyes were already a blue-blood program. They made back-to-back national championship games, dominated the Big Ten conference for years, and had the best player in the history of the sport play for them in Caitlin Clark. While that was a legendary era of Iowa basketball, it didn’t quite turn the Hawkeyes into that blue-blood program. It was a great start, but recruiting and sustained national prominence is the ultimate test of that.
The Hawkeyes have won some big recruiting battles over the past few years, but they all had one thing in common. The top prospects they landed all had some kind of Iowa tie. Caitlin Clark grew up in Iowa and was a Hawkeyes fan. Addie Deal reached out to Iowa first. And Deal had initially committed while Lisa Bluder was still the Hawkeyes’ head coach.
Those were still massive battles to win, but Iowa had a leg up in both of them. Getting Woliczko to commit is a different story.
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Woliczko is the sixth-best prospect in the entire country according to both 247Sports and Rivals and is from California. The Hawkeyes didn’t have any previous connections to her or her family. Tons of other blue-bloods were in the mix. And Iowa won the recruiting battle. That’s how you become a blue-blood program. When you recruit at an elite level and beat out other top-tier programs despite not having an in, your program elevates to the next level.
Combining elite recruiting with winning on the court is the equation to becoming a blue-blood program. The Hawkeyes have had solid stretches of both of those, but it looks like they’re close to putting it all together. And when they do that, the rest of the college basketball world will need to watch out.
It’s an exciting time to be an Iowa women’s basketball fan, and the fun might not be over yet. The Hawkeyes are still in the mix for 2026 five-star forward Addison Bjorn and five-star guard Jenica Lewis, who would join Woliczko on campus next summer if they commit.
Commitments from Bjorn and Lewis would further cement Iowa’s status as an ascending blue-blood women’s college basketball program.
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In the meantime, Woliczko’s pledge is an excellent start for Iowa and a massive win for Jensen. The future is bright in Iowa City.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: McKenna Woliczko commitment points Iowa toward blue-blood status
