Taylor Stremlow ‘felt at home’ with the Iowa Hawkeyes
VERONA, Wis. (BVM) — The Iowa Hawkeyes have one of the nation’s best women’s college basketball teams, with Caitlin Clark and Gabbie Marshall leading the way. Both are seniors and Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder is making sure the program sustains its success by bringing in four recruits in ESPN’s 2024 HoopGurlz rankings, including Taylor Stremlow, the No. 91-ranked player in the nation.
Iowa is currently the only team to have four Top 100 recruits for the 2024 class:
4 ⭐️ Ava Heiden (#36)
4 ⭐️ Aaliyah Guyton (#57)
4 ⭐️ Teagan Mallegni (#64)
4 ⭐️ Taylor Stremlow (#88) pic.twitter.com/gNrcKNb0Ht— I talk hoops 🏀 (@trendyhoopstars) October 10, 2023
Stremlow has been around sports her whole life, but the excitement and the chance to be a leader drew her to basketball and she found immediate success as a freshman. Stremlow averaged 11.6 points, eight rebounds and four assists per game and helped the Verona Wildcats to their first state tournament appearance since 2016.
“There were definitely a lot of ups and downs,” Stremlow said. “I was a freshman when I started … thinking about the future. It’s crazy to think about how far I’ve come.”
She was also receiving interest from college programs and being new to the recruiting process could be too demanding for a high school athlete. But Stremlow had her parents by her side and they have a history of playing basketball at the collegiate level.
Her father, Pete Stremlow, was a member of the 1994-95 UW-Platteville national championship squad coached by Bo Ryan and her mother Sarah Stremlow was a member of the Butler Bulldogs from 1994-98. She helped the Bulldogs to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1996, was selected as the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now Horizon League) Player of the Year in 1998 and entered the school’s Hall of Fame in 2009.
“At first I was so awestruck with everything,” Taylor said. “I was so grateful and excited about every visit, every phone call it was just all so new to me … My parents were huge in helping me and players of all the schools that I visited were open about their recruiting process. A lot of people that have gone through it we’re open to talking and giving advice and that was definitely helpful for me.”
Taylor continued to thrive on the basketball court, but adversity struck when she broke the navicular bone in her left foot. The injury happened as Taylor began preparing for volleyball season, forcing her to miss her entire sophomore basketball season. But it was a character-building injury and she returned to the floor stronger and nearly averaged a triple-double (16.9 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists per game) as a junior.
Her play on the court helped Verona to a 24-3 record and an undefeated conference season, but the Wildcats fell short of the state tournament after losing to Arrowhead in the sectional semifinals.
Conference champs!!! 20-0 for the first time in school history💪🏼❤️ So proud of this team but we aren’t done yet! #jobsnotfinished pic.twitter.com/oxZy0h4WVQ
— Taylor Stremlow (@StremlowTaylor) February 21, 2023
Taylor Stremlow put on a clinic tonight
The future #Hawkeye scored 32 points to lead #6 Verona past Sun Prairie West. #wisgb
More highlights at 10 on @WISCTV_News3 pic.twitter.com/KHv5q9ttJj
— Zach Hanley (@ZachHanley2) January 25, 2023
Taylor’s also a member of the Wisconsin Flight Elite basketball club and she credits the program for helping develop her skills.
“AAU is the best of the best competition,” Taylor said. “We were lucky enough to be in the EYBL this past year, which has so many teams from all different parts of the country and the best players. It’s just constant competition and there’s never an easy game … That was a big jump for me and that’s when I knew I wanted to play in college.”
KEEP IT SIMPLE. 1️⃣ of the best 2024 in the state @StremlowTaylor. Floor General + High Motor. Make sure you send a extra defender 😬You’ll need it. Rising Sophomore next year on a very young & talented @veronagirlsbb team this upcoming year⏳ #supportwomensports #mixtapeszn pic.twitter.com/ZIATCEqQAb
— stunnaa (@stunnashotit) August 4, 2021
Taylor received offers from UW-Green Bay, DePaul, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Penn State, Marquette and others. When it came to making her final decisions she narrowed her choices down to Illinois, Iowa, Penn State and Wisconsin and she eventually committed to Iowa. But it wasn’t the easiest decision.
“It was one of the most stressful decisions I had to make,” Taylor said. “Everybody says, ‘You’ll get a good feeling [of where to go],’ and that’s just a bunch of BS. It’s so stressful. But at some point, during one of my visits … I just felt at home there [Iowa].”
So excited for what’s ahead! GO HAWKS!!!🖤💛🖤💛 #committed pic.twitter.com/lI760csXmS
— Taylor Stremlow (@StremlowTaylor) December 28, 2022
Officially, official 🤩
Welcome to the Hawkeye family, @StremlowTaylor! #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/CUNnPj9X0Q
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) November 8, 2023
Heading to Iowa City also gives her the opportunity to play alongside Clark, who could return in 2024.
“Caitlin was cool. I got to ride with her a little in the car on my official visit and we just talked about the program, talked about life outside of basketball,” Taylor said. “She’s very personable, easy to talk to and obviously she’s a competitor … She’s the best player in the world … Hopefully I’ll be able to play with her.”
Taylor’s recruitment is behind her, and that decision’s weight is off her shoulders. Now she has turned her focus to her senior season, where she will prepare to help Verona capture a championship and play for a new head coach.
Angie Murphy coached Verona for 19 seasons but stepped down and Lexy Richardson will be taking over.
From player to coach! No one better to lead @veronagirlsbb into the future ❤️I’m excited to leave the program in good hands! @Lexy_richardson you will do great things. Go Wildcats! pic.twitter.com/1ChaOfFyXB
— Angie Murphy (@coachmurphyvahs) September 11, 2023
It can be challenging for a new coach to step in, but Taylor is ready to lead the Wildcats and she isn’t worried about having a new coach.
“It can be a little nerve-wracking, but she was an assistant for us last year,” Taylor said. “All of us girls have a good relationship with her and it’s just a new energy on the team … there’s a lot on the line we’re all bought into the program for coach’s new system.”
Basketball has been a mainstay in Taylor’s life and she’s seen plenty of success within the sport. She will do what she must to continue that success, but will also remain grateful to those who have put her in a position to flourish.
“I feel super blessed that I get the opportunity,” Taylor said. “It’s just been an amazing journey so far and I feel so grateful for that, that I get to keep doing what I love moving forward and hopefully maybe beyond, but we’ll see what happens. I’m just so excited about playing with my best friends and making some good memories.”
