There were likely a lot of nerves rolling through McKenna Woliczko’s body as she rode an airplane from San Jose, California to Iowa City.
Not only was she going to be attending college 2,000 miles away from home, Woliczko was strapped with the immense pressure of playing as a decorated five-star recruit for the globally-recognized Iowa women’s basketball program.
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The plane ride was far from ordinary, though.
Once the Woliczko family landed in Cedar Rapids, they soon realized there was a massive problem. The short time between connecting flights resulted in the airline company losing their bags, forcing them to make a 5 a.m. Walmart run to grab the essentials.
Wolickzo’s first practice with Iowa was set to take place later that afternoon, so there probably wasn’t a lot of time for sleep that night. As if this wasn’t enough of a culture shock, during a storm, Woliczko heard one of the most classic Midwestern noises – a tornado siren.
Though it did give Woliczko a brief jolt, this moment was weeks ago. She soon quickly acclimated to Iowa’s culture, which included getting used to the frequent sound of tornado sirens.
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“That was definitely such a reality shock being here for my first time,” Woliczko said at media availability Thursday. “But now I’m used to it. The other day it went off, and I was completely fine.”
But how has she adjusted on the court? It’s still only July, but Iowa’s 4-out-1-in offense has proved to be very beneficial for her. A 4-out-1-in offense prioritizes having four players on the perimeter to create more spacing for open three-pointers as well as paint touches for All-American center Ava Heiden.
Adjusting to the speed of the college game has been an early challenge, but Woliczko has always preferred the up-and-down style of play – the 4-out-1-in is a natural fit for her.
“My motor’s always going. I’m always able to run up and down the court, always getting and rebounding, and those are the two things I can control. So I always just try to control those,” Woliczko said.
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According to head coach Jan Jensen, the key to unlocking Woliczko’s full potential in this offense is her three-point shooting. Woliczko was a selective, but efficient three-point shooter for Archbishop Mitty High School (40% during the 2025-26 season), but the Hawkeyes need her to be much more than selective this year.
“It’s already so much better, but we have to keep getting it better,” Jensen said. “But her her presence is really elite.”
“We shoot the three a lot, and so to be able to just be practicing every day, getting workouts in with my teammates before practice, after practice, just getting constant shots up-it’s really made me more confident,” Woliczko said.
While Woliczko can control her play on the court, she can’t control the outside noise from the press and the rabid Hawkeye fanbase.
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Woliczko, who scored 1,900 career points in high school, is the second-highest recruit in program history behind only Caitlin Clark, and she’s also the second five-star freshman to join Iowa in as many years.
Fellow Californian Addie Deal brought a ton of hype to Iowa City, but fizzled out in the second half of the season and transferred to Wisconsin. The move didn’t come as a surprise considering Deal’s minutes and play sharply decreased, but the massive expectations placed on her due to her five-star status probably didn’t help.
The same lofty expectations have now been placed on Woliczko’s shoulders, and though she’s admitted that they sometimes pop into her mind, she’s leaning on her teammates and and coaching staff to help keep her focused on simply playing basketball.
Besides, Iowa’s strong culture is why she is in Iowa City in the first place.
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“I feel like my teammates and coaches have been really good at keeping me grounded and not to put so much pressure on myself,” Woliczko said. ….”You can find great basketball in so many places, but the girls and the coaches here, they just really made the decision easy.
She also wants to remind everyone that there will be some mistakes, too. That’s just the reality of playing Big Ten basketball.
“I’m going to make mistakes. I’m going to do things that are good. And either way, I just have to keep pushing through.”
HawkeyeRoundtable is giving away TWO tickets to Iowa’s season opener against Northern Illinois on Sept. 5!
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This is easily the biggest giveaway we’ve ever done on this site, and it’s a great opportunity for two lucky fans to experience the joy of attending a Hawkeye football game at Kinnick Stadium.
Click here to automatically become a member to enter the contest! Additional contest details can be found in our community section, too!
HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at bradschultz@roundtable.io
