DES MOINES, Iowa — Former Hawkeye women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder spent Monday evening in central Iowa.

At an event at Central College in Pella, former NBC News senior correspondent Harry Smith led the conversation with the retired coach in front of a packed house. The two spent an hour discussing Bluder’s career – from memorable moments to things we’re learning for the first time – including the night Caitlin Clark switched her decision to go from Notre Dame to the University of Iowa.

“Weeks went by, weeks went by, and then suddenly her AAU coach called me and said, ‘hey, you know, I think Caitlin’s having second thoughts about Notre Dame, would you still have a place for her?’ Yeah,” said Bluder.

“That’s a funny question,” Smith quipped. “Oh, let me think about it for a minute.” 

“My husband and I were out having dinner. I remember exactly, you know, where we were, what table we were sitting at, and the phone rang. It was Caitlin. And I said ‘I’m going to go outside and take this, Dave.’  And so I went outside the restaurant and she said, ‘Coach, do you still have a spot? Would you still like me to come to Iowa?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely!’ Okay. So then I went in and ordered a bottle of champagne,” Bluder told the crowd.

The rest is hoops history. In her senior season at Iowa, Clark became the career leading scorer, for both men and women, in Division I NCAA with 3,951 points and led the Hawkeyes to a berth in the NCAA Championship game. She was picked #1 in the 2024 WNBA Draft and went on to have a successful rookie season with the Indiana Fever.

Bluder announced her retirement from Iowa in May of 2024, after leading the Iowa Women’s Basketball program for 24 seasons.