Jenni Fitzgerald, longtime Iowa women’s basketball assistant, follows Lisa Bluder into retirement

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Assistant coach Jenni Fitzgerald, who worked for 32 years on Lisa Bluder’s staffs at Drake and Iowa, announced her retirement Wednesday.

Fitzgerald follows Bluder into retirement rather than continue on the staff of new Iowa coach Jan Jensen, who was her teammate at Drake from 1986-90.

Fitzgerald served as a special assistant to Bluder and an assistant coach over 24 years at Iowa, and she spent eight seasons before that with Bluder at Drake.

“It’s been a privilege to be a part of the Hawkeye family for the past 24 years,” Fitzgerald said. “Lisa, Jan and I had big dreams of filling arenas and hoisting trophies when we first stepped on to campus. Because of the women that came through our program and our Hawkeye community, those dreams became our reality. Retiring is bittersweet, but I know I’m one of the few people that can say they had the honor of working alongside their best friends for 32 years.”

As a coach primarily responsible for the guards, a recruiter and the team’s primary strategist, Fitzgerald helped Iowa make 22 postseason appearances, including 18 NCAA Tournaments. The Hawkeyes, led by star Caitlin Clark, played in the last two NCAA championship games.

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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball