Billie Jean King to present Lisa Bluder with the Joe Lapchick Character Award

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NEW YORK (AP) — When Lisa Bluder first met Billie Jean King, the tennis icon signed a piece of paper saying: “pressure is a privilege, go Iowa basketball." Bluder put that up in the Hawkeyes' locker room as a constant reminder to her teams.

“I’ve always admired Billie Jean,” Bluder said in a phone interview. “Watching Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King play in the Battle of the Sexes, she’s always been a hero to me.”

The two reconnected years later when King started following the Hawkeyes run with Caitlin Clark and became friends. When she retired, Bluder joined King's management agency.

King will present the former Iowa coach Friday as Bluder is honored with the Joe Lapchick Character Award. Bluder will be given the award along with Mike Brey, James Jones and Ernie Johnson.

Bluder had an incredible 40-year coaching career, including spending the final 24 seasons at Iowa. She retired in 2024 after leading the Hawkeyes to the national championship game in two straight seasons while coach Caitlin Clark.. The NCAA's career scoring leader told The Associated Press that she couldn't think of a better person to win the award than her former coach.

“I think she just treated every single person she was around with the same amount of respect, whether it was me or a volunteer college student that came twice a week to practice," Clark said. "Every person she valued and cared about. I think it’s just somebody I learned a lot of life lessons from and not just basketball wise. How to be a great leader, a great teammate, a great friend. I was fortunate to be around her for four years. There were plenty of moments when we probably wanted to kill each other, but that’s what made the moments at the end so amazing.”

Bluder had 894 wins, which was third among active coaches when she retired. She was the recipient of the Carol Eckman Coaches Award in 2016, given annually to the coach that exhibits sportsmanship, ethical behavior and commitment to the student-athlete.

“It does mean a lot. that’s what you want to be known for as a person,' Bluder said of receiving the Lapchick Award. ”Someone will have more wins, championships, trophies all that stuff, but an award like this doesn’t tarnish as it's about the person you are. To me that’s the highest achievement you can have as a basketball coach, how you impacted other people."

Bluder is the winningest coach in Big Ten history going 528-254. She began her coaching career as head coach at St. Ambrose University for six seasons (1985-90) where she led the Bees to two Final Four appearances. She went from there to Drake for 10 years before coming to Iowa.

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