Lisa Bluder Announces University of Iowa Has New Director of Player Development

Bluder's Bunch, as the University of Iowa women's basketball team is affectionately known, has a new member. This time, on the staff.

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The Hawkeyes, who finished the 2022-23 season at 31-7 and made it to the national title game, now have a new Director of Player Development. She's well-known to Iowa fans.

Coach Bluder and the University of Iowa announced Wednesday morning that former Iowa player Tania Davis has taken the job.

Davis played in every Iowa game in her first season, 2015-16, after winning Michigan Miss Basketball the year before. She led Iowa in assists that season and was part of the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.

In her sophomore season, Davis started Iowa's first 23 games before tearing an ACL in one of her knees. She battled back the following season to play in 12 games before starting every game her senior season (2018-19). Davis ended her Iowa career with more than 1,000 points. The Hawkeyes were 95-43 during her Iowa career.

Davis graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor's degree in health and human psychology in 2019. She recently received her master's degree in athletic leadership at Clemson.

Since graduating from Iowa, Davis spent two years as a graduate assistant at Clemson and has been an assistant at the University of Nebraska Omaha for the last three years.

In announcing the hire of Davis Wednesday morning, Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said,

“I am absolutely thrilled to welcome Tania Davis back to Iowa City. Tania was a tremendous player who has now gained great coaching experience. It is so exciting to know she will now impact our program once again as our Director of Player Development. She will be a pivotal piece in our day-to-day operation, mainly working with our players to assist them in becoming strong leaders and role models in the community.”

Davis replaces Kathryn Reynolds, who had been on the Iowa staff for six seasons. Earlier this week, she was named the President/Commissioner of Northwoods League Softball.

*The Tania Davis photo below is from her senior season at the University of Iowa.