Iowa women’s basketball’s assistant coaches hope to raise recruiting and mentorship expectations in first season with program

IOWA CITY — Chit-Chat Wright knew she’d follow assistant coach Lasondra Barrett from Georgia Tech to Iowa as soon as the true freshman found out.

Barrett recruited Wright to go to Georgia Tech, an ACC program right in her backyard. Then Barrett got the phone call to join the Iowa women’s basketball staff.

“I just knew I would have somebody up here that I had known and had already made a connection with,” Wright said. “That played a major role in my decision.”

Barrett is one of two new assistant coaches on the Hawkeye women’s basketball staff this season. Head coach Jan Jensen brought the pair in just a few months after the 2024-25 season ended.

Jasmyn Walker, Iowa’s other new assistant, is one of the youngest on staff. Having earned her Master’s degree from Western Michigan five years ago, Walker is coaching in her seventh season of basketball.

The pair joins a coaching staff that’s worked together for many seasons, learning each others strengths and weaknesses and working as a cohesive unit. In fact, they both have very minimal ties to Iowa.

Walker’s only connection was facing Iowa as a player and attending a Hawkeye youth basketball camp as an observer. Barrett didn’t have that same connection to Iowa, and didn’t set foot on campus until Jensen convinced her to visit Iowa City.

“She reached out several times, and we had several conversations, and I was like, ‘I don't know,’” Barrett said. “She's like, ‘just come up here. Come see it, come check it out.’ And I did, and the rest was history.”

While both new coaches have roles helping with player development, they also have their hands heavily involved in recruiting.

Jensen had started searching by reaching out to a few people who could help with the research. Barrett was mentioned by three different people to Jensen, all without any chatter among themselves.

“I wanted the best,” Jensen said. “I wanted a natural national recruiter.”

Barrett is just that.

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“She comes in understanding what the standard is,” Jensen said. “If you want to get there, this is what you got to do, and there's no skipping steps.”

Though Walker has a much younger coaching career than Barrett, she comes with connections to the Michigan area and the Washington, D.C., region — both places she’s coached in. Walker also said that being just 29 years old, she’s able to foster connections with college athletes in her own way.

She also gets to learn more herself, too — a major reason for her moving to Iowa City.

“The biggest thing is, like being young in my career, and young in who I am, I want to grow and learn,” Walker said. “And there's never a shortage of opportunities.”

More importantly, Barrett and Walker understand their role in mentoring the Hawkeyes beyond the court. Jensen brought the two coaches in to help convince some of the best basketball players to wear an Iowa jersey, but it’s also about teaching young women — especially young Black women — how they can find their place in college and beyond.

“Being a young Black woman, I think it's big to be a point of representation for our other young Black women, but also just for women in general,” Walker said. “Diversity at its core is something that we're dealing with across the country and around the world. So I think being able just to be another face or a perspective that they can talk to, things like that, is really important.”

Jensen has preached a family-like culture for her program since she took the reins in May 2024. She wanted the best people — players and coaches.

Her joy in simply speaking about Barrett and Walker tells the whole story — it’s the perfect fit for her staff and the right faces to help lead a young Hawkeye squad.

“That's the most beautiful part of any type of organization,” Jensen said. “And I think that the way Jazz and Lasondra, their perspectives and how they move in the world, they're just wonderful role models, and it's fun to help them grow in their profession.”

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