Iowa four-star offensive line committed Carson Nielsen taking on role as big recruiter in 2026 class

New Iowa point guard Lucy Olsen has ‘moxie, humility’ and is a perfect fit for the Hawkeyes

Hawkeye women’s basketball fans were sent into Lucy Olsen mania when the highly-touted Villanova point guard announced that she’d transfer to Iowa for her final year. Iowa was looking for a high-level point guard to replace college basketball legend Caitlin Clark and found a tremendous player in Olsen.

IOWA CITY, Iowa– Hawkeye women’s basketball fans were sent into Lucy Olsen mania when the highly-touted Villanova point guard announced that she’d transfer to Iowa for her final year. Iowa was looking for a high-level point guard to replace college basketball legend Caitlin Clark and found a tremendous player in Olsen.

On Thursday, Olsen showcased herself as a dynamic player to the local media. Tough drives to the rim, an elite pull-up mid-range jumper, great passing and leadership exuded out of the senior guard. It’s almost as if she’d been on campus for years, which is something that new Iowa head coach Jan Jensen wishes as well.

“I told her today, man, I wish I could have coached you for four years,” Jensen said. “That was just genuine. She just is selfless, fun, eager, just a really neat kid. She’s so unique and we haven’t had anyone like her for awhile. She’s more mid-range, but pass-first. She has a nice bounce about her. Her personality is really golden. We are fortunate that we got her. She’s got enough moxie, but enough humility to balance it.”

Olsen was named first team All-Big East this past season. She also was voted most improved player in the conference. Olsen helped Villanova reach the championship game of the WBIT. Olsen had 29 and 30 points in the tournament’s first two rounds. She had 21 points, six rebounds, six assists, and four steals with three blocks in the semifinal win over Penn State.

“I think just the fact that she was interested. I think there are a lot of people that were thinking ‘I’m not coming after Caitlin.’ When she came here on her visit, you could just feel it. That’s the kids we have. That’s what we are about. That feel. You want to be part of us. There’s not so much you are going to be on the show. You could sense it at our first team meal. You just felt comfortable. She was interested because of how we play, the longevity of success, but she’s confident. She wasn’t fearful about filling someone’s shoes.”

Olsen is an east-coast lifer, but she has easily adapted to the midwest. In fact, it only took one dinner for her and her teammates to realize that this was going to be a perfect fit. Olsen also had an unconventional recruiting visit. When she flew into Iowa, she immediately had to take cover due to a tornado warning. After the rough start, she got the chance to meet the coaches and her now teammates.

“I knew as soon as we had dinner with her — before she even committed here,” fifth-year senior Kylie Feuerbach said. “I didn’t even know if she was going to come here or not. But even at that dinner, I knew she would fit in perfectly. She’s just a great person. She has our humor. We laugh with her all the time. She’s also just really nice off the floor. She’s ready to go. She fits in perfectly.”

“Just immediately I could tell her personality, who she was as a person, super goofy, lighthearted, bubbly, just like the rest of us,” Jada Gyamfi said. “She’s really funny. Not a lot of people could probably guess that. But she’s really funny. And she just fit in perfectly. Now it’s just easy. We’re just jelling. Everybody’s jelling.”

It’s unrealistic and unfair for anybody to think Olsen is going to replace Clark. Nobody can, but that’s not what anyone should expect. Olsen is a unique player with a different skill-set that will provide Iowa an immediate boost given her moxie, wiry frame and high-level play.

The Hawkeyes lose a lot of high-level talent, but it’s clear that they found the perfect replacement.

The culture remain in tact.

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