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Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Coach Sends Message to Indiana Fever on Wednesday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Parker Johnson | Last updated Oct 1, 2025 8:20 AM ET

Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark has a huge WNBA fan base, but few people have followed her journey as closely as Iowa women's basketball head coach Jan Jensen.

Jensen, 56, was the associate head coach under Lisa Bluder while Clark was breaking NCAA records left and right during her four years in Iowa City.

A former Division I scoring leader at Drake University in Des Moines, Jensen was one of the first to recognize Clark's talent. According to ESPN's Wright Thompson, she first recruited Clark in seventh grade, continuing to follow her around the world with Team USA until securing a commitment to the Hawkeyes.

Jensen stayed up into the early hours of Wednesday morning to watch Clark and the Fever get eliminated from the WNBA playoffs in overtime by the Las Vegas Aces. After the loss, she was quick to comment on Indiana's season.

However, her message had little to do with Clark, who only played 13 games for the Fever amid multiple muscle injuries.

"So much respect for incredible resiliency of the @IndianaFever," Jansen posted on X. "Huge congrats to Coach Steph White, her staff, team and overall organization. Few teams have handled so much adversity the way they did."

So much respect for incredible resiliency of the @IndianaFever Huge congrats to Coach Steph White, her staff, team and overall organization. Few teams have handled so much adversity the way they did.
— Jan Jensen (@goiowa) October 1, 2025

The adversity referenced by Jensen included a long list of trials and tribulations that the Fever faced throughout the 2025 season. White had to navigate five season-ending injuries, adapting her gameplans as a franchise record of 18 players suited up for at least one game.

By the end of their Game 5 loss to the Aces in the WNBA semifinals, which included an injury to leading scorer Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston fouling out, Indiana only had one player left on the floor who started the first game of the season.

Jensen's recognition of the team's resiliency echoed what White said in the Fever's postgame press conference in summation of the season.

"They have been an absolute joy to coach," White said of her team. "It's an incredible group of women, an incredibly connected group. They're a great example to everybody of what it means to persevere."

Stephanie White on what she wants to say to the team after this season:

"So proud I'm of them. They have been an absolute joy to coach. An incredibly connected group. I'm so thankful to coach these women" pic.twitter.com/wSsgQTur7f
— Ashwin (@Sudharsan_ak) October 1, 2025

On social media after the game, Clark added: "So much to be proud of. Shoutout the fans for staying with us all year."

Clark averaged 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 8.8 assists in 2025. Across her first two professional seasons, the Fever have made back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time since 2015-2016.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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