Kylie Feuerbach Preparing for Bigger Role

Iowa 5th-Year Senior Embracing Next Step

Iowa’s Kylie Feuerbach, 4, dribbles during practice Thursday, July 11, 2024 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. / Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen /

The Iowa backcourt trio of Caitlin Clark, Gabbie Marshall and Kate Martin combined for more than 93 minutes per game last season.

Their departures open up a lot of playing time this season, and Kylie Feuerbach is hoping to fill a bigger role.

The fifth-year senior guard was a big part of Iowa’s rotation last season, averaging almost 14 minutes per game. That number figures to double this season, given Feuerbach’s ability to score and defend, along with her experience.

It’s why she has been working on selective parts of her game this summer in preparation for what’s coming.

“I definitely want to do a lot more on the floor,” she said. “I want to be scoring more, but right now I’m focused on the nit-picky things this summer. I can improve my game in a lot of different areas, especially offensively. I’m getting my shots up, but there are some little things on that side of the floor that I can be working on.”

Feuerbach, coming off a knee injury that sidelined her for all of the 2022-23 season, shot just 31.3 percent from the field, 29.6 percent in 3-pointers. Consistent playing time, head coach Jan Jensen said, will help those numbers improve.

“Kylie needs a few more shots within a game,” Jensen said. “When you have Caitlin, you’re kind of setting everybody else up and waiting for her to launch. Now you’re going to see more shots from others. So I think you’re going to see Kylie be a lot more consistent.”

“Kylie has been finishing around the rim very well. She’s been making good reads, good decisions,” assistant coach Abby Stamp said. “She’s starting to really put together our offense.”

“I want to improve my shooting percentage from behind the arc,” Feuerbach said. “And then, when I’m looking to drive, I don’t want to be a straight-line driver, I want to be able to control myself, have that stride-stop in there. Just reading it more, and have a better handle with the ball. I don’t want to be that two-way scorer, that step-up three and a straight-line drive. I want to throw a few other things in there.”

Feuerbach, though, could also be the Hawkeyes’ biggest defensive presence now that Marshall is gone.

“Kylie’s growth and her confidence this summer has been off the charts,” Stamp said. “She is so good defensively, and she has been so good defensively, that I think she steps into that role that Gabbie had for us, to step in and shut down the other team’s leading scorer.”

The dynamic of the team is going to change with the loss of those veteran guards, especially Clark, the two-time national player of the year. It’s a younger team, and those who have been through what the Hawkeyes have faced in their back-to-back runs to the national championship will have to speak up.

That, too, is another place where Feuerbach wants an expanded role.

“I think that’s the most important thing right now is making sure we are making sure they’re on the same page as us, that they can all reach out to us if they have any questions,” Feuerbach said. “For me, working hard and always kind of going hard is my way of having leadership. They can see how I’m doing it, and they can learn from that.”