Iowa's Callie Levin pens heartwarming note for teammate Kennise Johnson's special day

Callie Levin and Kennise Johnson became teammates on the Iowa Hawkeyes last season, with Levin joining the team as a freshman. Although neither of them had a big impact on the team on the court last year, they built a strong relationship off of it.

On Saturday, Levin penned a heartfelt message to her teammate on her birthday, wishing her the best and expressing her love.

"Happy Birthday to my other sis!" Levin wrote. "I'm so blessed to know such a kind person. My hair stylist, sister in Christ, hype buddy, thank you for the amazing memories! Here's to so many more! Love you and miss you so much Kennise Johnson."

Image via Callie Levin's Instagram story.

Kennise Johnson is coming off a season where she did not play. She started the season recovering from a knee injury and never got into the lineup. As a result, she took a redshirt year and is expected to return for this coming season. In her freshman season, she appeared in only 14 games, averaging less than a point per game.

Callie Levin joined the team last year as a freshman and got limited playing time. She appeared in only 10 games, averaging less than a point per game.

Callie Levin and Kennise Johnson will try to earn rotational minutes on Iowa next season

While they joined the team a year apart, Callie Levin and Kennise Johnson will start the 2025-26 season in similar positions. Neither player has established themselves as a rotational piece on the Hawkeyes' roster and will be trying to change that this coming season. However, it could be challenging given the depth the team has.

On Friday, Hawkeyes Wire writer Josh Helmer posted his projections for the starting lineup and rotation for next year. The Iowa starters were as follows:

Chazadi Wright, PG
Addie Deal, G
Emely Rodriguez, SF
Hannah Stuelke, F
Ava Heiden, C

It is not surprising to see that neither was projected as a starter. However, they were not projected to play rotational minutes either. The Iowa bench rotation projections were as follows:

Journey Houston, G
Kylie Feuerbach, G
Taylor McCabe, G
Taylor Stremlow, G
Teagan Mallegni, G
Layla Hays, C

While Levin and Johnson are not projected to be in the regular rotation, that does not mean they will not play at all. They could play in some situations, but it is unlikely to be every game. They also have the opportunity to improve their standing with strong play.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Alexander O'Reilly