The first year of the Jan Jensen era as head coach of Iowa WBB had its ups and downs, but it finished with 23 wins and a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. What will Jensen and the Hawkeyes do for an encore in 2025-26?
While there's the potential for Iowa to add more players through the transfer portal, right now the Hawkeyes look to have at least 10-11 players in line to see regular minutes next season. Let's take a look at the WBB roster for next season and break down what we might expect to see in terms of starters, rotation players, and more in Jensen's second year at the helm.
Starters
1. Chazadi 'Chit Chat' Wright | SO | 5'4"
Iowa entered the offseason with a significant need to fill at PG and though it look a while for the Hawkeyes to land their woman, they finally did get former Georgia Tech guard Chazadi 'Chit Chat' Wright out of the transfer portal in April. Wright played in 33 games for the Yellow Jackets last season (with 12 stats) and averaged 7.4 points per game, 2.6 assists per game, 2.2 rebounds per game, 1.2 turnovers per game, and 1.0 steals per game in those appearances.
Wright was brought in to handle the starting point guard duties at Iowa and that's exactly what she'll be expected to do in 2025-26. Wright averaged 25 minutes per game for Tech last season and that will probably bump up to 32-34 minutes per game at Iowa. The hope will be that another year of college experience, as well as the ability to play in Iowa's offensive schemes, will increase her assist totals (2.6 per game) and improve her shooting (44.3% on 2-point tries, 32.3% from long range).
2. Addie Deal | FR | 6'0"
Projecting a true freshman to start is often a risky endeavor, but there are few reasons why Deal seems very likely to be a starter from day one in Iowa City. One, she's the biggest recruit Iowa has landed since Caitlin Clark, ranked in the top 20 overall by nearly all recruiting services. Recruits like that don't spend much time coming off the bench, unless they're in a program crowded with blue-chip talent.
Two, Iowa needs to replace a lot of scoring pop in the lineup -- and Deal seems best-equipped to carry a lot of that load. Iowa will be down over 42 points per game from last season's team after the departures of Lucy Olsen, Addison O'Grady, Sydney Affolter, Aaliyah Guyton, and AJ Ediger. A lot of that lost scoring production comes from Olsen (17.9 ppg last year) and Deal, who averaged over 20 ppg at times at Mater Dei, is a gifted and relentless scorer who can attack a defense on multiple levels. Relying on a true freshman is sure to result in some ups and downs, but the upside with Deal looks very high indeed.
3. Kylie Feuerbach | GR | 6'0"
Assuming Deal does indeed start as a true freshman, then this spot becomes easily the most difficult starting position to forecast for Iowa next year. The options here -- for a third back court player or potential wing -- likely boil down to a pair of upperclassmen (Feuerbach and Taylor McCabe) or a pair of rising sophomores (Taylor Stremlow and Teagan Mallegni).
The nod here is with Feuerbach for a few reasons. One, she did it last year, starting all 34 of Iowa's games -- she has plenty of experience. Two, she's arguably the best perimeter defender on the Iowa roster and that defensive aptitude could be important if the rest of Iowa's starting back court features the freshman Deal and the undersized (5'4") Wright. Three, Feuerbach averaged 6.7 ppg last season, but played some of her best ball at the end of the year, averaging 8.7 ppg and 3.4 apg in Iowa's final seven games, while shooting 11-of-27 (40.7%) from 3-point range.
This is the spot in the lineup where it's easiest to see multiple options being considered and the player who starts the year here may not still be the starter by January if another player emerges as a better option. But at the moment, Feuerbach seems like the safest bet to be the starter here at the beginning of the season.
4. Hannah Stuelke | SR | 6'2"
Stuelke is sort of the last woman standing from the wildly successful Caitlin Clark era at Iowa, at least in terms of major contributors. (Feuerbach and McCabe were also on the Iowa teams that advanced to back-to-back national championship games, but they played much more limited roles on those squads.) Stuelke shared the leadership burden last season with senior standouts Lucy Olsen and Sydney Affolter, but more of that burden is likely to fall on her shoulders this season.
From an on-court standpoint, Stuelke was probably Iowa's second-most productive player last season, as she ranked second on the team in scoring (12.7 ppg) and rebounding (7/8 rpg), while also adding 2.2 assists per game and 1.3 blocks/steals per game as well. Stuelke improved as a free throw shooter last season, hitting 67.9% of her attempts from the line over the course of the season, with that figure bumping up to 75% for her final eight games.
The hope is that improved free throw shooting maintains over the course of her senior season -- and that it foreshadows some improvement in her jump shot as well. Stuelke was just 2-of-17 (11.8%) from beyond the 3-point arc last season; her perimeter shooting simply hasn't taken many steps forward during her time in Iowa City so far.
Her ability to develop a reasonably consistent outside shot -- or even a mid-range jumper from the elbow or free throw line -- could be key to Iowa's offensive success next year, though. On paper, the best lineups for Iowa should feature Stuelke at the 4 and Ava Heiden at the 5, but if Stuelke can't hit enough jump shots to pull defenders away from the paint, that could make things very difficult for Iowa's offensive spacing.
5. Ava Heiden | SO | 6'4"
It took a bit for Ava Heiden to find her footing in her freshman campaign, but she ended the season having developed plenty of hype for the upcoming season. The Big Ten Tournament was a breakout event for Heiden, as she averaged 9.0 ppg (on sizzling 79% shooting from the field) and 3.6 rpg in roughly 11 minutes of action per game in three appearances in the BTT.
Heiden was even more unstoppable against Murray State in Iowa's NCAA Tournament opener, exploding for 15 points and 7 rebounds on 7-of-11 shooting in over 17 minutes of action. Unfortunately, he second round game against Oklahoma was a bit of a rude reality check, as the Sooners' size and talent kept Heiden in check to the tune of just four points and zero rebounds in 11 minutes of action.
Heiden won't be an off-the-bench sparkplug in the coming season, though; she's unquestionably one of the five best players on Iowa's team and will likely need to play as many minutes as possible for Iowa to have its best chance to be successful in 2025-26.
Off-the-Bench Roles
Taylor McCabe | SR | 5'9"
Taylor Stremlow | SO | 5'10"
Teagan Mallegni | SO | 6'1"
Layla Hays | FR | 6'5"
Journey Houston | FR | 5'11"
The five players listed above seem likely to be regular parts of Iowa's rotation; a few (like Stremlow or Mallegni) might even take over a starting role at some point during the season.
McCabe played in all 34 games for Iowa last season, starting 19. It's certainly not out of the question that she has a starting role again in 2025-26, but her lack of size (5'9") and streaky shooting makes a reserve role seem more plausible at this point. The streakiness of McCabe's shooting was on display at the end of Iowa's season; she went 10-of-19 from 3-point range in three of Iowa's final six games and 1-of-14 in the other three.
Stremlow saw the most minutes of Iowa's hyped freshman class last year (over 14 minutes per game) and flashed a lot of strong attributes, particularly as a passer (2.2 assists per game) and a havoc-creating defender (almost 1.0 block/steal per game in limited action). The key to more minutes from her is greater consistency, particularly as a scorer -- she averaged just 2.4 ppg last year, mostly due to mediocre shooting (56% on 2-point attempts, 31% on 3-point tries).
Mallegni's minutes waxed and waned a bit over the course of the season, averaging out to 8.8 per game. She averaged 3.2 ppg and was a pretty fearless shooter -- despite playing 125 fewer minutes than Stremlow, Mallegni attempted 30 more shots from the field (and from beyond the arc). She didn't convert on those attempts with much efficiency, though, making just 46% of her 2-point tries and 23% (13-of-57) for her 3-point efforts.
For Mallegni to get more regular minutes, she'll likely need to find 1-2 things to excel at on the court -- maybe that's rebounding, maybe that's defense, maybe she finshes better at the rim or finds a better 3-point stroke. Whatever that may be, her minutes may be limited until she can find that way to be a reliable contributor.
Layla Hays and Journey Houston are the other members of Iowa's celebrated 2025 recruiting class (alongside Deal), but their outlook for 2025-26 looks a little hazy at the moment -- especially for Houston. Hays will be Ava Heiden's primary backup at the 5 this season and she should see regular minutes in that role. With the departures of O'Grady and Ediger, Iowa doesn't have a lot in the way of depth options in the post.
Houston looks likely to play a much more limited role next season for a few reasons. One, she's recovering from a knee injury that limited her playing time her final few seasons in high school. Two, she projects for the back court, which is a much more crowded area of the Iowa lineup at this point. That said, Houston's athleticism and scoring ability give her a lot of upside that isn't matched by many of Iowa's other back court rotation options, so she could find herself moving beyond some of Iowa's more experienced back court pieces in the rotation if she's able to hit the ground running next winter.
Deep Bench
Callie Levin | SO | 5'9"
Kennise Johnson | SO | 5'4"
Jada Gyamfi | SR | 6'1"
Most of the members of Iowa's celebrated 2024 recruiting class saw regular action last season; the one exception was Levin, a 5'9" guard from just up the road in Solon. Levin saw action in only 10 games total (three in Big Ten play) and averaged four minutes per outing in those appearances.
Johnson spent last year recovering from a knee injury that kept her out of action for the entire season; she saw action in 14 games in the 2023-24 season, though in a very similar role to Levin's last year, as she got just three minutes per appearance on average. Levin and Johnson both appear to be battling for backup PG minutes behind Wright, but with Deal and Stremlow able to take some of those minutes as well, how many will be left for Levin and Johnson?
Gyamfi's contributions to the Iowa team go beyond what's measured in box scores and it seems that her efforts to build and maintain team chemistry will be her bigger than the on-court statistics she may record next winter.
