Jan Jensen & Lisa Bluder pumped up to represent former Iowa star at Honda Awards: "We found Caitlin Clark"

Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark was on the end of a painfully narrow 88-87 loss to the Chicago Sky and her college basketball rival Angel Reese on Sunday. She still managed to tally 17 points, six rebounds and 13 assists in the game.

Elsewhere, she was being represented by her former Iowa Hawkeyes coaches, retired coach Lisa Bluder and current coach Jan Jensen, at Sunday's 2024 Honda Sports Awards in New York City. The two-day event will be broadcast on Monday at 7 p.m. ET on CBS Sports.

Jensen shared a picture on her Instagram stories of the two coaches at the awards, standing in front of a poster of Caitlin Clark during her Hawkeyes days. It was hilariously captioned:

"We found @caitlinclark22. Pumped to be at the Honda Awards on CC's behalf!"

Jensen's IG stories

Caitlin Clark was recruited by Jan Jensen and Lisa Bluder

Jan Jensen is renowned for her recruitment nous, and she was key in bringing Caitlin Clark from Dowling Catholic girls’ basketball to the Iowa Hawkeyes with interest from several elite programs, including the dominant UConn Huskies.

Caitlin's father, Brent Clark, revealed to Sports Illustrated how Iowa approached the recruitment of his daughter, which ultimately swayed the family's decision toward the Hawkeyes.

“They were very respectful of that,” Brent Clark said. “They always made a point to ask, ‘Are we not calling enough, are we not doing enough?’ I always felt that they did their stuff right.”

Lisa Bluder and Jan Jensen flew a 48-hour round trip to Thailand to seal the recruitment of Caitlin Clark, who was with the United States Under-19 team. They never got to speak to her because it was forbidden by NCAA rules, and she even committed to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish before flipping.

Clark first visited Iowa in 2016 after she had been recruited by then-head coach Lisa Bluder and the then-associate head coach Jan Jensen and, despite strong interest from several programs, committed to them in 2019.

Clark revealed to Sports Illustrated why she ultimately chose the Hawkeyes as her program of choice.

“It was a pretty memorable visit. I just really loved it,” Clark said. “The coaches are genuine, down-to-earth people. All the girls are really nice and outgoing. That’s just the people I want to be around. You want to surround yourself with people like you.”

Jan Jensen recruiting Caitlin Clark was perhaps the most crucial piece of recruitment in the Hawkeyes' history. It paid dividends, with the Indiana Fever star leading the team to its most successful era, winning multiple Big Ten titles and reaching two consecutive national championship games.