Iowa basketball was at the forefront of the start of the explosion in women’s basketball in 2024. Much of it was centered around Caitlin Clark, who took the sport by storm and sucked in many new fans en masse.
She became college basketball’s all-time leading scorer among both women and men by surpassing Pete Maravich’s record. She averaged a Division I-high 31.6 points and 8.9 assists a game and won a slew of individual awards while leading the Hawkeyes to the women’s NCAA championship game, where they lost to South Carolina.
Former Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark controls the ball against Connecticut Huskies guard Paige Bueckers.Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
This season, the Hawkeyes weren’t as successful, as they finished 23-11. Now, Raina Harmon, who had been an assistant coach for them the past seven seasons, is heading south to become the head coach at Florida Gulf Coast.
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On Wednesday, she posted a thank-you message on her Instagram account where she thanked her players, coaching staff and Hawkeye Nation.
Harmon played a role in helping to build Iowa into one of the better programs in women’s college basketball, even before Clark arrived for the 2020-21 season.
During her time at Iowa, the school reached the NCAA Tournament six times and made it to the national championship game in 2023 and 2024, although it failed to win it all on both occasions.
She had previously been an assistant coach at Central Michigan and the Director of Women’s Basketball Operations at Michigan. Harmon played at Central Michigan in the early 2000s, and while there, she earned a bachelor’s degree in sports studies, which she later followed up with a master’s in sports administration from Wayne State.
Related: Major Fever News Before Caitlin Clark’s Second Season Sparks Strong Fan Response
