
Even though she missed a full year due to an ACL injury, future Iowa Hawkeyes player McKenna Woliczko was named a McDonald's All-American.
This is a tremendous honor for a player who wasn't sure if her career would ever be the same again.
Woliczko underwent surgery for her ACL and meniscus back in January 2025, but now she's on top of the world.
Second year head coach Jan Jensen was beyond thrilled to learn Woliczko would be joining them in Iowa City next season. Currently riding a two game losing streak, the Hawkeyes are still a Top 10 team and know the sky is the limit with Woliczko by their side.
The McDonald's All American game girls rosters dropped
— SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) February 2, 2026
These rosters are tuff pic.twitter.com/AaB7A0XOHU
Woliczko's father, Aaron, posted, "Ever since McKenna switched her focus from softball to basketball (8th grade), THIS McDonald's All-American game has been a goal! Wrote it down years ago & today gets to check it off! Time to celebrate with McDonalds dinner & shake."
Ever since @McKennaDub switched her focus from softball to basketball (8th grade), THIS @McDAAG has been a goal! Wrote it down years ago & today gets to ✅ it off! Time to celebrate with @McDonalds dinner & shake for #McDub pic.twitter.com/xInz57Bjmg
— Aaron Woliczko (@AWoliczko) February 3, 2026
Archbishop Mitty High School congratulated her as well.
"Congrats to McKenna Woliczko for making the McDonald’s All-American team! She will compete for the West Team on March 31st at the Desert Diamond Arena in Phoenix!"
Woliczko will be on the West roster which features other top players such as Bella Flemings and Addison Bjorn. Hawkeyes fans know the Bjorn name well as Jensen long pursued the small forward out of Missouri, as did Woliczko, but ultimately she chose Texas instead. Regardless, it's clear Iowa is in good hands with Woliczko on the way.
Losing Taylor McCabe was a heartbreaker for this squad and it showed no team can ever have too much depth. Iowa has since lost their last two games without her, though they'll look to get back on track February 5 when they return home against Minnesota.
This is still an extremely young team, so it's not like adding Woliczko to the mix will fix that problem. That said, it's hard to imagine a world where the 6'2'' power forward doesn't start for this team next season. She'll be a suitable replacement for senior Hannah Stuelke as Iowa will also be losing Kylie Feuerbach and Jada Gyamfi.
It's far too early to look ahead to next season as the Hawkeyes can still do some damage in the tournament. Jensen is looking to build off her tournament win from last year, and she knows that won't be possible if this team continues to lose games. Ultimately, Iowa is in a great position as they sit at 18-4 (9-2) with a McDonald's All-American on the way.
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