Iowa's Jada Gyamfi, Callie Levin hype up HC Jan Jensen's "surprise" practice session

Iowa players Jada Gyamfi and Callie Levin hyped up coach Jan Jensen's surprise practice session on the last day of the Hawkeyes' spring workouts. Instead of taking the team on the hardwood, Jansen surprised the players with a pickleball tournament.

Gyamfi and Levin hyped up the pickleball session organized by Jansen with positive comments posted on Instagram. The fourth-year forward posted her new achievement as she was part of the champion team in the tournament.

"@frobiphoto CHAMPS," Gyamfi wrote.

Jada Gyamfi reaction (@iowawbb/Instagram)

Levin, on the other hand, gave a positive take on the practice session.

"CUT OFF SZN 🤩," the incoming sophomore guard posted.

Callie Levin reaction (@iowawbb/Instagram)

Levin's batchmate, Taylor Stremlow, added a two-word reaction to the surprise pickleball tournament.

"Let’s gooo," Stremlow said.

Taylor Stremlow reaction (@iowawbb/Instagram)

The pickleball tournament aims to give Iowa's players respite after a hard grind during the team's spring workouts. Jan Jensen had a good first season as coach of the Hawkeyes with a 23-11 record, including a 10-8 mark in the Big Ten Conference.

They qualified in the NCAA Tournament as the No. 6 seed in the Spokane 4 Regional Tournament and beat No. 11 Murray State in the first round 92-67.

However, Iowa failed to sustain its momentum in the second round, dropping a 96-62 setback to No. 3-seed Oklahoma, booting them out of the tournament.

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Iowa parades nine returning players for 2025-26 women's college basketball season

Despite the departure of last season's top scorer Lucy Olsen, the Iowa Hawkeyes will have an intact core for the 2025-26 season with nine players returning to improve its second-round finish in the NCAA Tournament.

Leading the 2025-26 returnees is second-leading scorer forward Hannah Stuelke, who averaged 12.7 points and 7.7 rebounds last season. Other players who will be back for Jan Jensen are Taylor McCabe, Kylie Feuerbach, Ava Heiden, Teagan Mallegni, Taylor Stremlow, Jada Gyamfi, Callie Levin and Kenisse Johnson.

The Hawkeyes also signed Georgia Tech transfer Chazadi Wright to strengthen their backcourt corps. The Atlanta, Georgia, native appeared in 33 games for the Yellow Jackets as a freshman, tallying 7.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per game.

The 5-foot-4 guard reached double figures 10 times, including a season-high 16 points against Pitt. She had a season-high seven assists against Rice.

Iowa also has three highly-touted incoming freshmen on its roster next season. They are five-star guard Addison Deal and four-star players Layla Hays and Journey Houston. The Hawkeyes aim to contend in the formidable Big 10 Conference that has strong teams like UCLA, Ohio State, USC, Michigan and Maryland leading the bunch.