Iowa star Gabbie Marshall gets emotional as Iowa HC Lisa Bluder announces retirement: “The best to ever do it!!”

Lisa Bluder announced her retirement on Monday after serving as the Iowa women’s basketball coach for 24 years. The news caught the former Hawkeyes player Gabbie Marshall by surprise.

Marshall paid tribute to her former coach on Instagram with an emotional message for her that featured a teary-eyed emoji:

“The best to ever do it!!”

Image Credit: Gabbie Marshall’s Instagram Story

Lisa Bluder retired after leading the Hawkeyes to back-to-back appearances in the national championship game and 18 NCAA Tournament appearances.

No details were mentioned behind her decision to step away. Her departure comes after she witnessed the Caitlin Clark era that substantially helped grow the women’s basketball game.

Bluder wrote a letter to her fans that showed great gratitude toward her squad and women's basketball fans:

"There is never an ideal time to retire and I am sure this fall that I will miss the games, the practices, the road trips, the atmosphere, the tremendous fans and, most importantly, the players. But my belief in the foundation of this program, knowing that success is now an unrelenting component of women's basketball at the University of Iowa gives me comfort as I transition to become the program's biggest champion."

She also mentioned that she made the decision to retire after discussing it with her husband and student-athletes.

Who will replace Lisa Bluder as Iowa’s head coach?

While announcing Lisa Bluder’s retirement, the Iowa Hawkeyes announced that the team’s long-time assistant coach, Jen Jansen, will become its new head coach.

Jensen played four seasons at Drake when Bluder was the coach from 1990 to 2000. Then she joined Bluder’s staff as the assistant and recruiting coordinator in 2000.

This will be Jensen’s first head coaching job, and she'll try to begin a new era as impactful as the Caitlin Clark one.