By Susan Harman

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Lisa Bluder’s beaming smile at media day hinted at the obvious. Optimism is driving the bus as it heads toward the 2022-23 women’s basketball season.

Just a few of the reasons are the return of all five starters, including:

*All American point guard Caitlin Clark, who led the country in scoring (27.0) and assists (8.0) and won prestigious national awards as the top point guard in the country;

*All Big Ten center Monika Czinano, a 6-foot-3 fifth-year senior, who led the country in field-goal percentage (.679) and averaged 21 points and 6.2 rebounds per game;

*McKenna Warnock, a wing/power forward who shot 40 percent from 3-point range and averaged 6.5 rebounds;

*Gabbie Marshall, the two guard who led the team in steals (50) and shot 39 percent from behind the arc;

*Kate Martin, a versatile team leader who was second in assists and averaged seven points and five rebounds.

In preseason projections the Hawkeyes are ranked fourth by the Associated Press, fifth by ESPN and were picked to win the Big Ten. They are the defending regular-season and tournament champions.

Those are the obvious reasons for optimism and probably the reason the team sold a record 5,200 season tickets and will play 18 times on television.

Some of the not-so-obvious reasons come from an influx of new faces. Iowa will have exceptional depth in the post behind Czinano. Bluder was not ready to say how the reserves stack up and who was likely to be first off the bench to give Czinano a break, but she has options.

Sophomore Addison O’Grady, a physical 6-4 presence, was Czinano’s primary backup as a freshman.

“Compared to last year I’ve just gotten a lot more confident,” O’Grady said. “Coming in I wasn’t a true back-to-the-basket post player, so I was a little more uncomfortable last year. But now I’m more confident and comfortable down on the block. I’ve gotten a better touch around the basket.”

Redshirt sophomore Sharon Goodman, who served in that role in her freshman season, missed all of last season after an ACL injury, was released to practice at the beginning of October.

“Sharon is coming along,” Bluder said. “I think we’re going to see a lot more progress out of her in the next month. I think she has a little ways to go before she feels confident on the floor.”

Associate head coach and post guru Jan Jensen said Goodman is still a bit tentative with the knee.

“It’s been a battle coming back from an ACL,” Goodman said. “But I’m feeling pretty strong.”

A.J. Ediger, a 6-2 post, played sparingly last year behind O’Grady. Freshman Jada Gyamfi is being looked at as a four. Gyamfi helped lead Johnston to a state title last March.

“It’s still a tight race, and right now Sharon is competing for that time but also A.J. Ediger, also Addison O’Grady, and we’ve been messing around with Hannah Stuelke at that position a little bit as well,” Bluder said. “But we have options, and nobody has risen to the top as the clear-cut second in our depth chart at the center position.”

Stuelke, a 6-2 freshman who was Gatorade Player of the year last season at Cedar Rapids Washington, is one of the more intriguing pieces to the puzzle. Stuelke did everything for the Warriors, including bringing the ball up court, but that’s not what Bluder recruited her to do.

“She has really been impressive at practice,” Bluder said. “You just never know how quickly a freshman is going to adapt to the college game and get that confidence to play at this level, and she’s getting there and it’s really fun to watch her development and her confidence grow.”

Stuelke’s game not only includes the ability to post up, but she’s a vigorous rebounder and can take her defender off the dribble or shoot from the perimeter. She’s slated to play the four or five this season but is versatile enough to play some small forward.

“There hasn’t been just one who has risen to take it. I think you could see, for the first time in my career, (post) by committee,” said Jensen. “Because they are all doing well.”

Depth and different skill sets will allow coaches to mix and match an opponent. Jensen said O’Grady, for example, is a “beautiful shot blocker.” Goodman is strong player who can match up with a similar physical presence.

Jensen said Ediger plays with an edge. Recruited as a small forward she has embraced the physical nature of post play. “She’s a little undersized, but she’s scrappy,” Jensen said.

Jensen said every statistic is recorded in practice and there just hasn’t been much difference among the posts seeking to back up Czinano.

Clark and Czinano have been the primary scorers the last two years and will be again.

“I really believe that Caitlin and Monika are one of the most dynamic duos in the country,” Bluder said.

Bluder said it might be unrealistic to expect more from Clark and Czinano. “That’s pretty hard, but I think we can get more from the others,” Bluder said.

Warnock and Marshall are the likely sources. Both are good 3-point shooters.

“Other teams are so focused on Monika and Caitlin that Gabbie and I have a lot of open looks,” Warnock said. “And if we make those shots it will open it up more for those two.”

Warnock will also be concentrating on rebounding. She was second on the team a year ago.

“McKenna has, and sometimes just hasn’t, gone to the boards, so we need to make sure she’s always going to the boards,” Bluder said

Warnock laughed and said, “Rebounding 100 percent,” when asked what coaches have pushed in preseason. “But I like rebounding. It’s more heart and going to get the ball.”

Marshall wouldn’t have anything to do with projecting her own offensive stats. She is more keen on the defensive side. “I love to get steals; it’s one of my favorite parts of basketball,” she said. “I’m more defensive-minded, so I’ll try to get as many steals as I can.”

Another source of offense could be transfer Molly Davis, who averaged 17.7 points during her career at Central Michigan, or freshman sharpshooter Taylor McCabe, the Gatorade Player of the Year in Nebraska. But McCabe has to work on her strength and defense to earn minutes. Sophomore guard Sydney Affolter averaged 9 minutes a year ago and was a productive rebounder.

Iowa lost Kylie Feuerbach to a season-ending knee injury, but Davis will back up Clark. Bluder said Davis could also earn time at the off-guard spot.

“I’ve been impressed with how well she plays away from the basketball. She’s crafty; she’s deceiving; she’s a smart basketball player,” Bluder said. “I think that’s going to be an “X” factor that people haven’t figured out with our team yet.”

Iowa has a closed scrimmage at DePaul on Saturday and its home exhibition is Oct. 28 against Nebraska-Kearney.

“I think that’s going to be really good for us to try some different things,” Bluder said. “We haven’t come up with a set rotation yet, and who knows those things can change too as the year goes on.”

But there are a lot of things that will look real familiar.