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Iowa lands transfer commitment from Villanova guard Lucy Olsen

Chandler Vesselsby:Chandler Vessels•04/17/24•

ChandlerVessels

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Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images

Former Villanova guard Lucy Olsen will transfer to play at Iowa in 2024-25, she announced Wednesday. She spent the past three seasons with the Wildcats and will have one year of eligibility remaining.

Olsen averaged 23.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.9 steals per game this past season while earning first team All-Big East honors. She will join a Hawkeyes backcourt that loses star guards Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin to the WNBA.

Olsen’s scoring average trailed only Clark and Juju Watkins this past season as she ranked third in the country. She should have all the opportunity in the world to surpass this given the talent Iowa lost this offseason.

Olsen arrived on Villanova’s campus for the 2020-21 season and immediately carved out a big role to start all 33 games. She averaged 7.0 and 2.7 rebounds, setting the foundation for her breakout as a sophomore. Olsen led the team with 4.4 assists while ranking second with 12.4 points, earning a spot on USA Basketball’s U21 team.

Iowa is coming off of its second straight appearance in the national championship but fell short once again at the hands of South Carolina. It was an incredible two-year run for the Hawkeyes thanks in large part due to Clark, and now Olsen will hope to be a part of continuing that.

Iowa loses two of its top three scorers in Clark and Martin, but returns Hannah Stuelke, who stepped up big to lead the team to a Final Four win against UConn. She averaged 14.0 points and 6.6 rebounds this past season and will certainly take on a bigger role in 2024-25.

The Hawkeyes also added four high school players from ESPN’s top 100 rankings, led by center Ava Heiden. It’s clear Lisa Bluder is looking to make sure then run doesn’t end when Clark leaves, and adding Olsen is a huge part of that.

Caitlin Clark on her WNBA expectations: ‘I want to be one of the best players in the world’

Caitlin Clark is on her way to the WNBA, where she’ll likely hear her name called first during Monday’s WNBA Draft.

The former Iowa star captivated the basketball world as a whole, and became a transformational player during her time with the Hawkeyes. Now, as she moves to the professional level, Clark took some time while speaking with ESPN’s Holly Rowe to explain her expectations as she enters a new world.

“I mean, I think my expectation is to be one of the best players in the world one day,” Clark said, asked about her expectations for herself at the next level. “To be the best player, one of the best players one day. I think, I wouldn’t expect anything less than that. That’s just kind of, you know, how I go about my business. I think, if I didn’t expect that, people around me would be like, ‘You’re selling yourself short,’ because that’s how much they believe in me. Also, they know how much work I put in.

“I don’t know, I think just enjoy it. This is my job now, but to me, this is fun. How lucky am I that I get to play a sport that I’ve loved since I was five years old, as my job, and do that every single day? And that’s really when I’m at my best, when I’m smiling and having fun, and remembering I do this because I love it. It’s not who I am, it’s just what I do. I think when I remember those things, I’m going to be in good hands.”