Learn more about the head coach of the women’s basketball team at the University of Iowa.
Iowa defeated Michigan 106-89 on February 15 of this year.
With more points than any other player in NCAA Division I basketball history, Clark broke yet another record on March 3 to become the all-time leader in scoring.The Hawkeyes have had eight consecutive 20-win seasons thanks to Lisa Bluder, whose extraordinary career as a D1 head coach spans decades.
Bluder, who was named the dean of Big Ten coaches, has smashed Iowa records and become the program’s all-time winningest coach. She is now leading her squad to their second consecutive NCAA tournament Final Four.Bluder isn’t the only name behind the Hawkeyes’ most recent successes. Among the standouts on the unstoppable team is Caitlin Clark, who made history as the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women’s basketball during the game that saints than any other man or woman.
Bluder has praised Clark’s game, while the all-time leading scorer has reciprocated the respect to her coach. “It’s an exciting time to be part of women’s basketball,” Bluder told Good Morning America amid the hype.
She was a standout basketball player herself
Lisa Bluder is from Marion, Iowa. She graduated from Linn-Mar High School in 1979 before enrolling at the University of Northern Iowa, where she was a three-year starter for the women’s basketball team.
Throughout her collegiate career, Bluder was a standout player. She played 108 games, averaged 9.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game and topped Panther record books — compiling a 57-30 record during her days on the court, per her UNI Hall of Fame bio.
She has coached D1 women’s basketball for 40 years
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Bluder has coached collegiate women’s basketball for 40 years, heading various D1 teams within Iowa. Her accomplished career began at St. Ambrose University in Davenport during the 1983-84 season.
After a successful streak at St. Ambrose, Bluder went on to coach women’s basketball at Drake University for 10 seasons from 1990 to 2000. Her time there was transformative, leading the Bulldogs to five, 20-plus-win seasons in the six years — including five post-season appearances.
In April 2000, Bluder was introduced as the University of Iowa’s fifth head coach of the women’s basketball team and has solidified herself as the all-time winningest coach in program history since.
She says Caitlin Clark is at her ‘very best’ in the spotlight
Bluder has coached Clark since her freshman season, where she started as a point guard and made her collegiate debut on Nov. 25, 2020. Bluder has praised the player throughout her rise to stardom.
“She’s absolutely amazing,” Bluder told Good Morning America following her team’s 94-87 win over LSU in the Elite Eight leg of the 2024 NCAA tournament. “She has been consistent throughout her entire career, but when the spotlight is on, she is at her very best at that time.”
“I could never have fathomed the amount of interest that we are getting right now in our game,” she said. “When I played and when I started coaching, you know, you’re begging people to come and watch your team play. And now it’s so fulfilling.”
“We always knew there was something special about her. She’s always been a little different in a good way,” Bluder previously said of Clark’s game. She told GMA, “It’s an exciting time to be part of women’s basketball.”
Caitlin Clark calls her a ‘Hall of Fame coach’
Bluder’s awe of Clark is clearly reciprocated. “Coach Bluder is a Hall of Fame coach,” Clark said on March 31 ahead of Iowa’s victorious rematch of 2023’s national title game with LSU.
“I think the biggest thing for me throughout the recruiting process that I loved about her is she’s a player’s coach. She’s not going to have a set offense that you have to run,” Clark continued of Bluder. “She’s going to tailor everything to what she has on her team and what’s going to put her team in positions to be very successful.”
Clark called Bluder “one of the best our game has ever seen” and attributed many of her accomplishments to Bluder, per the Daily Iowan. “Over the course of my four years, I don’t know if I would have the type of success I do if I didn’t have amazing teammates but also a coach who really allows me to be myself,” Clark continued. “For that, I’m forever grateful.”
She’s married to David Bluder
Bluder is married to author David Bluder, a Northern Iowa University alum. There, he earned a degree in business before receiving his MBA at St. Ambrose University.
Prior to becoming an author, David was a banker, politician, business owner and investor. He also taught Business Policies at the University of Iowa, per his website bio.
In April 2020, David made his book debut with The Great Gamble. The story chronicles a young basketball recruit and how sports gambling changes the game.
“‘When you combine gambling with sports, a lot of us have seen how detrimental it is,” David told The Gazette one month after the book’s release. “I’m never going to be able to watch sports the same way again.”
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