“Can we imagine Caitlin Clark if there was no NIL?”: Jan Jensen talks about ex-Hawkeye star’s deals with Nike, Gatorade and her impact on Iowa

Caitlin Clark has made a huge impact on women's basketball, especially when it comes to opening up opportunities for players to profit from their name, image and likeness. Iowa head coach Jan Jensen revealed her thoughts on what Clark has accomplished.

Jensen appeared on a recent episode of the "Mailander Podcast" with Chris Mailander, uploaded to YouTube on Nov. 26, discussing her coaching career. She also talked about the impact that Clark left on the sport and the goals she looks to achieve with the Iowa Hawkeyes, Clark's alma mater.

She focused on the ex-Hawkeye star's impact regarding NIL, understanding the past when players didn't have that many financial incentives to benefit from. Clark, on the other hand, signed NIL deals with Gatorade and Nike back in May.

"When the NIL started, it was like a, kind of a, just a perfect timing for a generational talent like Caitlin, right. Can we imagine Caitlin if there was no NIL?" Jensen asked.

"Right now, everybody's like, dollar signs on top of wanting to go to a program. 'What can that mean for me,' on top of it? Because that's the rules. So we just leaned in and embraced it. So we then tried to get, you know, all the opportunities for the NIL and, you know, try to (stay) within the legal limits (to) help kids like Caitlin."

Jan Jensen saw Caitlin Clark rise from the start of her Iowa career

For 24 years and counting, Jan Jensen has been involved with the Iowa Hawkeyes as an associate coach, with this season being her first at the head coaching position. The past four years saw her coach Caitlin Clark from the beginning.

Clark came out the gates blazing as a scoring sensation, averaging over 25 points throughout her collegiate career.

In 139 appearances, she averaged 28.4 points, 8.2 assists and 7.1 rebounds as she led the Hawkeyes to consecutive runner-up finishes in the NCAA Tournament. She then proceeded to join the professional ranks of the WNBA.

"What I feel so fortunate and blessed with is I've gotten to be on ground zero of ... Caitlin Clark. I mean, inarguably, you know, whether you really like her or you didn't, she spun it all on its head," Jan Jensen said.

"I'd like to think with Lisa (Bluder's) leadership in mind of managing that, but just the way she played unabashedly like, 'Look at me,' I mean, she made so many conversations happen."

Jan Jensen is seven games into her first head coaching season, off to a 7-0 start. She will lead the Hawkeyes as they prepare for their matchup against BYU tonight at 9 p.m. ET.