Iowa, Lisa Bluder agree to contract extension through 2029

Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder has agreed to a contract extension that will keep her in Iowa City through at least the 2028-29 season. The school announced the news Friday.

The Hawkeyes, led by national player of the year Caitlin Clark, are coming off their first ever trip to the Women’s National Championship Game.

It was Bluder’s first time taking the program to the Women’s Final Four and only the second appearance in program history. She has been the head coach of Iowa since 2000.

The Des Moines Register reports that the extension features a base annual salary of $1 million with percentage increases depending on the performance of the Hawkeyes.

“Lisa has been an incredible leader for Iowa Women’s Basketball over many years,” Iowa athletic director Gary Barta said in a statement. “Her ability to achieve sustained success at such a high level is remarkable.”

Bluder, 62, is an Iowa native. She played her high school basketball at Linn-Mar High School in Marion, Iowa, before going to play college ball at Northern Iowa.

One year after finishing her college career, she started as the head coach of St. Ambrose, an NAIA school in Davenport, Iowa. Bluder had a 169–36 record over six seasons with the program.

She then took the job at Drake and spent a decade at the school, winning three conference titles and 149 of 209 games.

Bluder was hired by the Hawkeyes in 2000. She has a 494-246 record with the program, which has made the postseason every year but two (which includes the 2020 COVID canceled postseason when Iowa was all but guaranteed a spot in the field) in her tenure.

She is a three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year and one-time Naismith College Coach of the Year. Iowa has won four conference tournaments and two Big Ten regular season titles during her time with the program.

Bluder has coached Clark to a treasure cove of trophies so far through the first three years of her career. In addition to winning player of the year honors this past season, Clark is a two-time unanimous All-American (while earning some first team honors as a freshman), three-time Dawn Staley Award winner as the nation’s top guard, two-time Nancy Lieberman Award as the nation’s top point guard, two-time Big Ten Player of the Year, three-time All-Big Ten first team performer, two-time NCAA season leader in scoring and two-time NCAA season leader is assists.