It's another special edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast during our summer run of shows. We are pleased to be joined by former Iowa women's basketball coach Lisa Bluder. It's been 13 months since Bluder retired from coaching, we catch up with the legendary head coach and find out what she has been doing.
We look back at Bluder's amazing coaching career, starting with her time at St. Ambrose back in 1984 fresh out of college and a great story on how she ended up landing the job leading the Bees program. Then we talk about landing the Drake job and then finally when Dr. Grant from Iowa called her to offer Bluder the Hawkeye job.
We talk about developing a culture in a program and how she was able to do that during her career. Did she ever consult with or talk about culture and team development with Kirk Ferentz during their tenures?
One topic that was also talk is Bluder's ever expanding coaching tree. It's growing year after year with former players and assistant coaches entering the coaching profession. What does this mean to her to see them enter the profession and have success?
We also discuss the growth of the women's game at the college and professional level and her part in that expansion. What does she think of the women's game growing the way that it continues to do? What was it like being at the center of that groundswell and what it felt like to be there. We also discuss how Caitlin Clark has always been someone who says the right thing to the media even when there might be folks trying to get her to slip up.
Bluder will be speaking at the John Deere Classic on July 1st as part of their Executive Women's Day with a morning event. https://www.classy.org/event/executive-womens-day/e675258
Lastly, also on July 1st, Bluder will be speaking at a luncheon at Bally's Casino in Rock Island as part of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois event. You can get tickets here: https://my.cheddarup.com/c/girlscoutsandlisabluder/items