Hall of Fame
A former student-athlete at the University of Northern Iowa, Lisa Bluder served as Drake women’s basketball head coach from 1990-2000. She began her coaching career at St. Ambrose, where she compiled a 169-36 mark in six seasons, leading St. Ambrose to the NAIA Fab Four in 1989 and 1990.
While at Drake, she earned four MVC tourney titles (1995, 1997, 1998, 2000), three MVC regular-season crowns (1997, 1998, 2000) and won 20+ games five of her last six seasons on the Drake bench. A three-time MVC Coach of the Year, Bluder led her teams to a Top-4 finish in the league standings eight of her 10 seasons in the Conference.
With a cumulative record of 188-105 (.642), she owns the second-most wins in Drake school history. After her successful run at Drake, Bluder became the all-time winningest coach at the University of Iowa, with a record of 528-254. Her 528 wins are the most in Iowa history, surpassing Hall of Famer C. Vivian Stringer.
As head coach of the Hawkeyes, she led her teams to 22 postseason appearances (18 NCAA and four WNIT). Bluder was a three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year (2001, 2008 2010), and she was the WBCA Regional Coach of the Year four times (2001, 2008, 2018, 2019). Under Bluder, Iowa was Big Ten Tournament champion five times (2001, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024) and was twice Big Ten regular-season champion (2008, 2022). The Hawkeyes made back-to-back NCAA Final Four appearances in 2023 and 2024 as Iowa was national runner-up in each of those seasons. The 2019 Naismith College Coach of the Year, Bluder retired from Iowa following the 2023-24 season with the 10th most wins in NCAA history, with an overall record of 884-396.
Bluder also served as head coach of the U.S.A. women’s basketball team at the 2015 Pan American Games, earning a silver medal in the event.
Bluder is a member of the Des Moines Register Hall of Fame, the Quad City Times Hall of Fame, Linn Mar Athletic Hall of Fame, and the University of Northern Iowa Hall of Fame.