By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

There are no beaches in Iowa that compare to what McKenna Woliczko has in California.

“I’ve been told there are a lot of lakes to go to,” Woliczko said on Wednesday. “So I think it will be super fun.”

Woliczko isn’t coming to Iowa for fun. She’s coming to the Iowa women’s basketball program to win, she said, and she’s hoping to bring some other big-name recruits with her.

Woliczko, a 6-foot-2 wing, announced her commitment to the Hawkeyes on Wednesday, becoming one of the top recruits in program history.

Woliczko is ranked No. 6 nationally in the 2026 recruiting class by ESPN, On3 Sports, and 247 Sports. Only Caitlin Clark, who was ranked No. 4 in the 2020 class, was ranked higher.

That’s some rare company for Woliczko, who was asked to compare herself to Clark, who became college basketball’s all-time leading scorer in her career with the Hawkeyes.

“I don’t mind (the comparisons to Clark),” Woliczko said. “But we’re also completely different people and players. She’s definitely paved the way for girls in the future, or just in general.”

Woliczko, who grew up in San Bruno, California, plays for Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, which is considered one of the top high school programs in the nation. She averaged 22.2 points and 8.6 rebounds in an injury-shortened junior season, shooting 59% from the field.

Woliczko plays the post for Archbishop Mitty, but projects to be more of a wing for the Hawkeyes — she is the top-ranked wing in the 2026 class by ESPN, and On3 has her ranked as the No. 1 combo guard. She suffered an ACL tear, as well as torn meniscus, on January 4, and is expected to be cleared for contact drills at the end of the month.

“I can’t do much — like, I can’t pivot or do post moves,” Woliczko said. “So I’ve been really working on my shooting and my (3-point shot). So I think that will definitely really help, for not only this season, but also in college.”

Woliczko chose Iowa over South Carolina, USC and Ohio State, but it was not an easy decision, she said. Her last official visit was to Iowa on August 30, and she was impressed with the Hawkeyes’ fan base walking from Carver-Hawkeye Arena to Kinnick Stadium that day for Iowa’s football season opener against Albany.

“After my Iowa visit, it was time to finally make the decision, and it was super hard,” Woliczko said. “It got to the point where it was very stressful, and I didn’t really want to talk about basketball or college, so I had to dedicate time at night with my parents just to kind of slowly start talking about it more and more. We’d talk about it, and we’d go back and forth. There were days it would be one school, and days where it was Iowa, and then finally it was just like, I know I just have to go with my gut feeling. And we kind of slept on it, sat on it for a couple of days, and it was still Iowa. So that’s kind of how I knew.”

Woliczko’s next project is to become an unofficial recruiter for the Hawkeyes. She plans on helping coach Jan Jensen land 6-1 wing Addison Bjorn, ranked 10th on ESPN’s list, and 5-10 guard Jenica Lewis, ranked 24th. Woliczko and Bjorn were teammates on the United States team that played in the FIBA U17 World Cup.

“I’m definitely going to be heavily recruiting all the Iowa girls that they’re recruiting at this moment,” Woliczko said. “Addison, we’re friends on Team USA, and she would definitely be someone that I would want to play with. So I will definitely be heavily recruiting her.”

Woliczko is coming to a program that made appearances in the NCAA national championship game in 2023 and 2024 with Clark leading the way. She wants to make a similar run.

“One of my main goals, not only the relationships and to have that family feel, was to have be a contender for a Big Ten championship, the Final Four, all those things,” Woliczko said. “And I just have the utmost confidence in the Iowa staff. I think that they can do something great. And also with the people they’re recruiting, people like Addison Bjorn, Jenica Lewis, those are people that can help, you know, bring the team to a Final Four, and I’m just very confident in that.”

(Photo courtesy of McKenna Woliczko and Brian Ray/University of Iowa)