The Big Ten announced its preseason honors on Thursday, and a pair of Iowa Hawkeyes have been named to both the coaches' and media's first-team lists.
Junior forward Hannah Stuelke and senior guard Lucy Olsen were named to the preseason All-Big Ten team, marking high expectations for the pair as Iowa prepares for a post-Caitlin Clark, post-Lisa Bluder world.
Stuelke averaged 14.0 points per game last season, along with 6.6 rebounds per game and a sparkling 62.7% field goal percentage. She spent most of the season starting as an undersized center, and figures to be one of the focal points of the offense as she enters her junior season.
Olsen transferred to Iowa from Villanova in the offseason after averaging 23.3 points per game in 2023-24 — third-best in the nation, behind only Clark and this year's Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year, JuJu Watkins of USC.
READ MORE: Star PG Lucy Olsen Transferring from Villanova to Iowa
Watkins is widely considered Clark's heir apparent as the best player in women's college basketball, and barring calamity, she will be a considerable favorite for national player of the year honors by the end of the year.
Even with two separate groups creating their own lists, there's remarkable consensus between the coaches and media in the preseason. All 10 members of the media's All-Big Ten team also made the coaches' list; Illinois guard Makira Cook was the 11th and final member of the coaches' team, due to ties in voting.
Also, both the coaches and media agreed on a top-five Big Ten preseason poll — rank and order:
1. USC
2. UCLA
3. Ohio State
4. Maryland
5. Indiana
In other words, Iowa did not make either group's list, despite the two projected All-Big Ten performers on the roster. Iowa is still projected as a tournament team by ESPN, albeit as an 8-seed, so the Hawkeyes were likely not far behind from inclusion in these polls.
READ MORE: WBB Releases Full 2024-2025 Schedule
Iowa's WBB team will hold its Media Day on Thursday, October 10, followed by participating in the "Hawkeyes From Downtown" outdoor event in Iowa City the following Friday afternoon. Season tickets for the upcoming season are sold out, as the athletic department announced on Wednesday.
