No. 3 Hawkeyes open the new season Monday at home vs. Fairleigh Dickinson

IOWA CITY — Fairleigh Dickinson has a new coach and virtually a new roster, so scouting the Knights would be a fruitless exercise.

Besides, bigger things await.

“We’ve been thinking about Virginia Tech since June,” Iowa women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder said Friday.

Maybe that’s not the politically correct thing to admit, but chalk one up for honesty.

First things first, though. Barely seven months after a historic season ended, a new one begins.

No. 3 Iowa hosts FDU at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Monday; tipoff is 6:30 p.m.

Bluder didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity for the Hawkeyes to play on the first possible day of the season. Opponent options were limited.

“We wanted to play at home, and not many teams want to come here,” she said.

Why?

“I think it’s pretty obvious,” she said. “Where we finished last year, and the initials C.C.”

The Hawkeyes, of course, were national runners-up in 2023. And C.C. refers to reigning national player of the year Caitlin Clark.

Bluder has been on several committees with Stephanie Gaitley, a veteran coach who is a rookie at FDU, and Gaitley — who owns a career record of 684-393 with nine NCAA appearances — was willing to bring her team to Iowa City.

The Knights were 24-8 last season.

Iowa competed twice in October, a 94-72 exhibition win over DePaul in front of 55,000 fans at Kinnick Stadium, and a 122-49 rout of Clarke University.

This one counts.

The Hawkeyes will take an NCAA-mandated day off Tuesday, then all eyes can turn to Thursday’s showdown in Charlotte, against No. 8 Virginia Tech, the undisputed plum of Iowa’s non-conference slate.

Both teams ended the 2022-23 season in Dallas. LSU beat Virginia Tech in the national semifinals, then handled the Hawkeyes two days later in the championship game.

“It’s a real opportunity for us, and for Virginia Tech,” Bluder said. “It won’t make or break our season.”

Bluder revealed Friday that the team will be without backup post A.J. Ediger, who is out with a foot injury.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com