Jan Jensen is in her 25th season with the Iowa women’s basketball team and her first as the head coach. Jensen was named the P. Sue Beckwith, MD, Head Women's Basketball Coach on May 13, 2024. The position was endowed in 2021 by P. Sue Beckwith, MD, one of UI athletics’ most generous supporters. Sue Beckwith was a four-year letter winner with Iowa Women’s Basketball (1976-1980) and has earned three UI degrees; 1980 BS, 1984 MD, and 2015 MBA.
A nationally known presence on the recruiting scene, Jensen serves as the recruiting coordinator and also works with the post players. Jensen is in her 36th season in women’s college basketball (player and coach).
THE JENSEN FILE AS AN ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH
- Helped guide Iowa to 22 postseason appearances, including 18 NCAA Tournament berths
- Guided Iowa to a postseason appearance in each of the last 16 seasons (14 NCAA, 2 WNIT)
- Helped Iowa to Big Ten Tournament Championship in 2001, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 and a 2008 and 2022 Big Ten Regular Season Title
- Guided Iowa to 18 upper division finishes
- Helped the Hawkeyes become the first team in Big Ten conference history to play in back-to-back National Title games (2023 and 2024)
- Took Iowa to its first National Championship appearance in program history in 2023, Sweet Sixteen since 1996 in 2015 and its first Elite Eight since 1993 in 2019 and returned to the Sweet 16 in in 2021
RECRUITING
- Integral part of developing and maintaining top-level recruiting classes at Iowa
- Helped Iowa land:
- 8th best class in 2001 (Blue Star Index)
- 9th best class in 2024 (ESPN HoopGurlz)
- 11th best class in 2011 (HoopGurlz)
- 17th best class in 2015 (ESPN HoopGurlz)
- 17th best class in 2020 (ESPN HoopGurlz)
- 18th best class in 2016 (Blue Star Basketball)
- 20th best class in 2022 (ESPN HoopGurlz)
- 22nd best class in 2021 (ESPN HoopGurlz)
- 28th best class In 2014 (Blue Star Basketball)
- 33rd best class in 2008 (ESPN HoopGurlz)
- Jensen has recruited four McDonald’s All-Americans to Iowa (Samantha Logic, Lindsay Richards, Johanna Solverson, and Caitlin Clark)
THE RISE OF CAITLIN CLARK
- In her senior season, Clark was the consensus National Player of the Year for the second straight season: 94th AAU James E. Sullivan, Ann Meyers Drysdale, Associated Press, CSC Academic All-America Team Member of the Year, ESPN.com, Honda Sport Award, Naismith, Sporting News, The Athletic, USA Today, Wade Trophy, and Wooden Award.
- Unanimous first team All-Big Ten honors, Big Ten Tournament MVP, and Big Ten All-Tournament Team honors.
- Clark was named the 2024 Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year.
- She also earned 2024 Wooden Award All-America, first team AP All-America, USBWA All-America, WBCA All-America and All-Region accolades
- In her junior season, Clark was crowned as a consensus National Player of the Year along with unanimous first team All-Big Ten honors, Big Ten Tournament MVP, and Big Ten All-Tournament Team honors
- Clark was named the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year and was the Dawn Staley Guard of the Year Award recipient – the first student-athlete to win the Dawn Staley Award in three consecutive seasons
- She also earned Wooden Award All-America, first team AP All-America, USBWA All-America, WBCA All-America and All-Region accolades
- Clark helped lead the Hawkeyes to their first National Championship appearance in program history with a 40-point triple-double over No. 1 South Carolina in the National Semifinals
- Clark ended her junior season as the first player in Division I women's basketball history to record more than 1,000 points and 300 assists in the same season. Additionally, Clark had 191 points and 60 assists in the 2023 NCAA Tournament where the Hawkeyes defeated, SE Louisiana, Georgia, Colorado, Louisville, and South Carolina before falling to LSU.
- She broke the single season Big Ten record for most points and assists in the same season and recorded five triple-doubles.
- As a sophomore Caitlin Clark was named Big Ten Player of the Year and earned unanimous first team All-Big Ten honors and added Big Ten Tournament MVP and Big Ten All-Tournament Team honors
- Clark was named the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year and was the Dawn Staley Guard of the Year Award recipient – the first student-athlete to win the Dawn Staley Award in consecutive seasons as well as a finalist for the Naismith Award, WBCA Wade Trophy, John R. Wooden Award and Honda Sport Award
- Earned Wooden Award All-America, first team AP All-America, USBWA All-America, WBCA All-America and All-Region accolades
- Named first team CoSIDA Academic All-America
- Finished sophomore season leading the country in assists per game (8.0), points per game (27.0), final points (863), free throws made (200), triple-doubles (5) and 30-point games (11) and ranked second in total assists (257), third in field goals made (286), fourth in free-throw attempts (227), 12th in 3-pointers made (91), 14th in 3-pointers per game (2.84), 18th in double-doubles (17) and free-throw percentage (88.1) and 19th in defensive rebounds per game (7.6)
- Clark’s freshman season was capped off with being named WBCA Co-Freshman of the Year (March 30), The Athletic’s Co-Freshman of the Year (March 25), a Dawn Staley Award Finalists (March 7), to The Athletic All-America Team (March 25), and to the WBCA All-Region Team (March 24). She earned USBWA Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week (Jan. 5, Feb. 17, Feb. 23, and March 2), NCAA Starting Five (Dec. 9, Dec. 30, Feb. 17, March 3), and ESPN National Player of the Week (Dec. 14) honors — the first Big Ten freshman to earn the award.
- During her freshman campaign, Clark averaged 26.6 points, 7.1 assists, and 5.9 rebounds per game in 30 games, setting the Iowa freshman record with 26.6 points per game (men’s or women’s), recording the fourth-highest points per game in single-season in Iowa history (men’s or women’s), and was the 2020-21 NCAA Division I scoring leader (men’s or women’s).
IN THE POST
- Under Jensen’s tutelage, Hawkeye post players have received numerous honors
- Led Monika Czinano to four consecutive All-Big Ten teams, where she led the country in shooting percentage her junior (66.8) and senior (67.9) seasons.
- Guided Megan Gustafson to consensus National Player of the Year, the first in Big Ten history
- Coached 10 players to 21 All-Big Ten honors, including seven first team selections
- Guided Megan Skouby to 2006 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and 2008 Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year honor
- Helped Jennie Lillis to a 2003 Kodak All-District selection
- Two players – Skouby and Krista VandeVenter – were invited to the USA Team Trials
- Guided Bethany Doolittle to back-to-back second team All-Big Ten honors and Big Ten All-Tournament Team accolades in 2014 and 2015. She ended her career second all-time in blocks (278) and is the single-season blocks leader (106). In the Big Ten, Doolittle is eighth in career blocks
- Jensen coached Morgan Johnson to numerous accolades, including two second team All-Big Ten honors. Under Jensen’s guidance, Johnson became Iowa’s career blocks leader and finished inside the top 10 in career scoring and rebounds at Iowa
- In 2009-10, Iowa’s post players broke school records for rebounding and blocked shots. Morgan Johnson broke the school mark for single-season blocks, while the team broke the school record for single-season rebounding.
THE RISE OF MEGAN GUSTAFSON
- First Consensus National Player of the Year in conference history, winning ESPNW National Player of the Year, AP Player of the Year, Naismith Trophy, and USBWA Player of the Year (Ann Meyers Drysdale Trophy).
- 2019 Big Ten Athlete of the Year and Big Ten Women’s Basketball Player of the Year
- Honda Sport Award Winner for Women’s Basketball
- Top-3 Finalist for the Honda Cup
- Lisa Leslie Award Winner and Senior CLASS Award Winner
- Consensus First Team All-American
- Wade Trophy Finalist, John R. Wooden Award Finalist, Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Semifinalist
- Unanimous First Team All-Big Ten Selection (Coaches & Media) as a senior (three-time All-Big Ten honoree; 2018, 2019
- Big Ten Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player
- Big Ten’s All-Time Leading Rebounder
- Iowa’s All-Time leading scorer and rebounder
- 23 career Big Ten Player of the Week Awards
- 13-time Big Ten Player of the Week during the 2018-19 season – a Big Ten record
- Led the nation in five categories, including points per game (27.8), field goal percentage (69.6), total points (1,001), field goals made (412), and double-doubles (33). Ranked second in defensive rebounds per game (11), and third in rebounds per game (13.4) and total rebounds (481).
- Became the fourth NCAA women’s basketball student-athlete and first ever post player to score 1,000 or more points in a single season
- Now owns 13 Iowa records (including class records)
- Academic All-Big Ten
- NCAA Records
- 33 double-doubles in a single-season (ties record)
- Ranks fourth in career double-doubles (88)
- Ranks fifth in NCAA History in field goal percentage (.656)
- Ranks 14th all-time in rebounds (1,460)
- Big Ten Records
- Single Season
- Rebounds (481)
- Field goal percentage (.696)
- Field goals made (412)
- Double-doubles (33)
- Career
- Rebounds (1,460)
- Field goal percentage (.656)
- Double-doubles (88)
- Single Season
- Iowa Records
- Single Season
- Rebounds (481)
- Double-doubles (33)
- Field goals made (412)
- Field goal percentage (.696)
- Career
- Rebounds (1,460)
- Double-doubles (88)
- Single Season
- In 2018, junior Megan Gustafson was named an All-American by seven outlets, including Sports Illustrated (first team), the Associated Press (second team), USBWA (second team), College Sports Madness (second team), USA Today (second team), ESPNW (third team), and WBCA (honorable mention)
- Named the 2018 Big Ten Player of the Year (Media)
- 4-time College Sports Madness Player of the Week during the 2017-18 season
- Only player in the country that averaged over 25 points in 2018
- Only player in the country that shot over 67 percent from the field in 2018
JENSEN AT DRAKE
- Before becoming a Hawkeye, Jensen also served as Coach Bluder’s first assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Drake
- Her recruiting efforts were enough to land the Bulldogs two top-13 and two top-40 classes.
ON THE COURT
- As a player, Jensen was one of the best Bluder ever coached at Drake
- During her senior year, she led the nation in scoring with 29.6 points per game and was the Gateway Conference Most Valuable Player
- That year, she was a Kodak Honorable Mention All-American, a member of the All-Gateway team, and the GTE Academic All-American Player of the Year
- Jensen was also Sports Illustrated’s National Player of the Week
- She currently ranks fourth on Drake’s all-time scoring list (1,996), sixth in field goal percentage (.535) and eighth in rebounds (.750)
- Jensen is one of only two Drake players to have her number retired in the Knapp Center
- After college, Jensen played professionally in the European Professional Basketball League for BTV-Wuppertal in Germany, winning the German Cup.
- She played there from 1992-93 and helped her club win the German Club Championship.
- In 1993, Jensen was inducted to the Iowa Girls High School Basketball Hall of Fame after leading the nation in scoring, averaging 66 points per contest her senior campaign
- Jensen is one of the few players who can say they led the nation in scoring both in high school and at a Division I university.
OFF THE COURT
- Off the court, Jensen is a leader in fundraising for the United Way of Johnson County
- Her 2006 campaign totaled over $2 million -- with a nine percent increase in donations and a 9.7 percent increase in the number of donations
- In 2006, she was a recipient of the Corridor Business Journal Forty Under 40 Award
- In March 2007, Jensen was named the United Way of Johnson County Volunteer of the Year for her leadership of the Emerging Philanthropists Society and the Healthy Kids School-based Clinics Initiative
- In the spring of 2014, Jensen was named a recipient of the `Women of Influence’ Award by the Corridor Business Journal. The `Women of Influence’ identifies women who have made a difference in the Corridor and who are representative role models as leaders in their fields and community
- In 2014, Jensen co-chaired the United Way record setting campaign raising over $2.5 million
PERSONAL
- Native of Kimballton, Iowa
- Jensen graduated from Drake in 1991 with a degree in Public Relations. She earned her Master’s in Higher Education five years later.
- In February 2007, Jensen received the Drake Double D Award. The award is presented annually to Drake letterwinners for achievements in their chosen field or endeavor and/or community service since leaving Drake. The Double D Award is the highest honor Drake bestows on its student-athletes.
- Jensen and her spouse Julie Fitzpatrick, have a son, Jack, and a daughter, Janie.
- She is a sought after speaker and works passionately to help make positive impacts in a variety of ways.