“Caitlin Clark gets heat checks before she starts”: When Jan Jensen heaped praise for Iowa legend’s extraordinary ability to hit logo shots

Caitlin Clark’s ability to sink shots from the logo became one of the defining features of her college basketball stardom, a skill that left her coaches and fans in awe. In a May 2022 interview on “T’d Up! with Connor and Patrick McCaffery,” then-Iowa associate head coach Jan Jensen spoke about how special Clark was.

“For women to have three back-to-back sellouts that's so rare and I mean that's a testament to our young women,” Jensen said, highlighting Clark’s key role in growing the game (Timestamp: 47:38). “Obviously Caitlin Clark, Monika Czinano, were the key cogs to that wheel.”

She pointed out Clark's deep-range shooting as an example of what brought the crowd to the arena, noting that it was practiced and trusted. Jensen revealed that friends questioned her why they allowed such shots, and she pointed out that it was practiced.

“She is able to do things that you haven't seen people do,” Jensen said. “I mean, the logo shots are a very real thing.

“If you watch her in practice, she can hit them. And I just said, 'Hey, Caitlin gets heat checks before she starts.'”

According to Jensen, the Iowa legend also learned to read the game and adjust, helping the time of her shots.

"She’s maturing in knowing," Jensen said. ... "When she was younger, she just checked 16 of them. Now she’s backing off like, ‘Okay, I’m not feeling it right now, let me shoot a little toed up or let me penetrate, let me dish.’ The fact that she can do that with such ease is exceptional to watch."

Under Jensen and head coach Lisa Bluder, Clark evolved into one of the greatest players in NCAA history. She shattered records, including the NCAA scoring record, led Iowa to back-to-back national championship appearances and was named National Player of the Year twice.

Jan Jensen pointed out the one challenge they had with Caitlin Clark

Caitlin Clark was the star of the Iowa Hawkeyes team and their setup was about creating the optimal situation for her to perform. However, achieving this was not all easy.

“So the challenge for us is working within her strengths but bringing everybody else along,” Jensen said (Timestamp: 49:00).

“And at the end of the year, we really hit that balance when we clinched at home and then had the fun run in the Big Ten tournament.”

Clark created history at Iowa and is one of the biggest stars to come out of the program. After Clark wrapped up her senior season, Iowa retired her jersey number, making her the third player in the program’s history to receive the honour.