By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – They come from nine different states that stretch from coast to coast, from two different countries, and in some cases, from vastly different backgrounds.

The 2026-27 Iowa women’s basketball team truly is a melting pot, with players from cities as big and famous as Atlanta, Georgia and as small and obscure as Burly, Idaho.

Iowa has one player from New York, Iowa, California, Idaho, Wisconsin, Alaska, Arizona, Oregon, and two from Georgia.

No player has been on the roster for more than three years, and six are new additions, including four from the transfer portal.

Iowa also has two added two first-year players: former five-star recruit and California native McKenna Woliczok, a versatile 6-foot-2 forward, and 6-0 forward Emma Stromdahl, who is from Uppsala, Sweden.

“It’s one of the most diversified rosters we’ve ever had,” Iowa head coach Jan Jensen said Tuesday at Iowa’s annual media day event. “If you look at where everybody is from, we have Alaska down to Atlanta, a lot of things in between, Tucson to Sweden to Dani, who grew up in the Bronx. There are a lot of different backgrounds, and one of my favorite things about coaching teams is the growth that happens when we learn so much about people that have grown up so differently than us.”

Jensen was referring to 5-9 guard Danie Carnegie, who transferred from Georgia this past offseason.

Carnegie also played her freshman season at Georgia Tech, along with Iowa point guard Chit-Chat Wright, who transferred to Iowa prior to last season.

“The coolest thing about college is when we can step foot on a campus but into a team and all of a sudden you become best friends with someone that you never thought you would have been that close to,” Jensen said. “I love that about our team. I believe that Ella has cooked some Swedish food for our team already in the apartments. We’ve got a little island flair with Dani. Her dad, they live in the islands part-time.

“We are very diverse, and I think that’s fun.”

The challenge, and part of the fun for Jensen, and for her staff, is to get all these diverse pieces from all over the place moving in the right direction.

“I think the melding of any team every year is always the most exciting but also the most challenging,” Jensen said. “And I think in these new times of college athletics, the melding of teams, tempering that with expectations, is probably the right balance that we’re all striving to hit because you have a lot of different kids that are a lot of different ages, that are at a lot of different stages in their careers, and they’re coming from a lot of different backgrounds.”

Iowa only returns five players from last season’s team that finished 27-7 overall and 15-3 in the Big Ten, but all five of them played key roles last season, highlighted by All-Big Ten center Ava Heiden, who is from Sherwood, Oregon.

Chit-Chat Wright, who is from Atlanta, is coming off her own breakthrough season as she started 31 games and led Iowa with 70 3-point baskets and finished second on the team with 138 assists.

Third-year guard Taylor Stremlow, who is from Verona, Wisconsin, also made a significant contribution last season as a scorer, passer and defender. She led Iowa with 146 assists and with 42 steals.

That triumvirate holds its own when compared to any other threesome in the Big Ten.

Throw in Dani Carnegie, who averaged 17.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game last season at Georgia, and 6-0 forward Journey Houston, who was arguably Iowa’s best player off the bench last season, and that gives Jensen a solid, and yes diverse, nucleus to build around.

“I’ve never had a team with six new people and five returners, said Jensen, who is entering her third season as the Iowa head coach. “That’s a different feel because the majority of your players don’t have any idea how I like to run a box set drill. They don’t know how we do free throws, the simplest of things.

“In one way, that’s really exciting. In another way, I’m constantly reminded that we definitely have a brand-new team. The returners have done a great job of welcoming everyone.

“Some days, I feel like, whoa, we are looking great. Other days, I’m thinking, ooh, we need a few more days of practice. It’s coming quickly when we start our closed scrimmages and certainly our exhibition games.”

And while last season was successful in many ways, the way it ended with a double-overtime loss to Virginia in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, certainly took away some of the satisfaction, but has also lit a spark, according to Heiden.

“Obviously, it wasn’t quite where we wanted to go with it,” Heiden of how last season ended. “And so that gave us an edge, I think, for this year.

“So we have that edge, excitement and belief, and I think that’s a really good combination for the upcoming season.”

At least one preseason poll also believes in the Hawkeyes, who are ranked seventh in the ESPN preseason top-25 poll.

“I would say as a team we just have tunnel vision,” Wright said. “We have a main goal, a team goal, individual goals that we want to do. My individual goal is just being a better teammate and leading this team with my voice vocally.

“So I think we just try and block out all the noise and just focus on what we have going.”

Speaking of blocking out, Iowa is adjusting to playing without ace rebounder Hannah Stuelke, who has graduated from college and moved on.

“I am a little concerned about the rebounding just because Hannah — she should have had an NIL deal with Windex, right?” Jensen said. “She just was a rebound waiting to happen. That’s hard to replicate.

“There’s a lot of growth in the weight room. I’m liking what I’ve seen out of Journey Houston. She has a good nose for the rebounding. McKenna Woliczko was looking very strong, but she’s also looking like a freshman. She needs to get bigger, faster, stronger, and she will and she is, but you can’t jump the steps of how long it takes to understand how when you go up for a rebound that you can feel like you just get jacked and thrown halfway across the lane and there’s no foul, and oh, by the way, you’re still expected to get the ball.”