“Next up, Hannah Stuelke”: Hawkeyes fans react as ex-Iowa stars feat. Caitlin Clark, Lucy Olsen and more feature in WNBA opening day squads

The Iowa Hawkeyes have produced several WNBA stars over the years, including superstar Caitlin Clark. On Friday, the Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball Instagram account made a post celebrating the opening day of the WNBA season. In the post, four former Iowa Hawkeyes were featured: Golden State's Kate Martin, Indiana's Caitlin Clark, Las Vegas' Megan Gustafson and Washington's Lucy Olsen.

It is an impressive group of players who should all contribute on their WNBA teams next season. Shortly after the post was made, fans reacted, with one mentioning the next Hawkeye they think will be drafted into the WNBA.

"Next up, Hannah Stuelke!!" one fan wrote.

"They just keep recruiting and developing exceptional talent," one fan commented.

"Can't wait! Also hope Meg has a quick recovery and we see her on the court soon!" one fan added.

Fans continued to react in the comments section.

"Such a great barometer for how far the program has come. There are many rival programs out there with ZERO players in the W. Hawk fans have so much to be proud of!" one fan wrote.

"Let’s goooo! I hope Lucy shinesss like the rest!!!!" one fan commented.

"With two more expansion teams next year, Hannah will definitely be on this graphic next year," one fan added.

Image via the comments of the Instagram post.

Lucy Olsen was the only member of the Iowa Hawkeyes selected in the 2025 WNBA draft

Opening day of the 2025 WNBA season is on Friday and the only member of the Iowa Hawkeyes to be selected in this year's draft was Lucy Olsen. She was selected in the second round with the 23rd overall pick by the Washington Mystics.

Olsen was a newcomer to the Hawkeyes this past season, transferring to the team after three years at Villanova. She had an immediate impact, leading the team in scoring and averaging 17.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

She is now joining a Washington Mystics team that has struggled in recent years. They did not qualify for the playoffs last season and have not gotten out of the first round since they won the WNBA championship in 2019.

The most likely member of the Iowa Hawkeyes to be selected in the 2026 WNBA draft is Hannah Stuelke. She has been a member of the Hawkeyes for three seasons, averaging 12.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game this past year.

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