By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

ROSEMONT, Ill. — Iowa’s women’s basketball team is young, again.

Nine of the 14 players on the Hawkeyes’ roster are freshmen or sophomores. It’s why, coach Jan Jensen said on Wednesday at the Big Ten basketball media days if Iowa’s rotation is going to be deep, that might be something for later in the season, rather than start big and whittle it down when the crucible of conference play hits in February.

“I think we’ll be deeper later,” Jensen said. “Right now, you’re going to see the upperclassmen. I mean, this stands to reason. They know exactly how drills should be done. They know what the standard is. They know the offense, so they have the edge just simply by the fact that they’ve had the instruction and the manual for, you know, two, three or four years. So the depth, it’ll come a little later.”

Three of Iowa’s top five scorers are gone — forward Hannah Stuelke, a preseason all-conference pick, leads the returning players at 12.7 points per game — but there is an impressive mix of incoming players. Three freshmen — guards Addie Deal and Journey Houston along with center Layla Hays — were added in the offseason, as were sophomore transfers Chazadi “Chit-Chat” Wright and Emely Rodriguez.

Wright is likely the starter at point guard, being backed up by sophomore Taylor Stremlow and Deal, who can play either guard spot. Where everyone else fits in, though, remains to be seen, and Jensen isn’t going to try to force the issue with the younger players.

“We’re pretty doggone young, with nine out of the 14 (being) freshmen and sophomores,” Jensen said. “I just want to make sure we realize that it takes a little time for those youth, whether they’re the sophomore transfers, our sophomores or the freshmen, this game is a lot bigger, faster, stronger. I love what I’m seeing, but it’s going to take a while to work them all.

“I’m not trying to downplay anything. It takes time. I was a freshman way back when. And sometimes it’s just the terminology  — you can just see a lot of them, they’re thinking so much but that should lessen in another couple or three weeks, and then I think we’ll start to settle into that. But I love what I’m seeing.”

“I think our system, it just takes time,” said sixth-year player Kylie Feuerbach. “But the young kids that we have are very mature at the same time, and they catch on very well. They’re sponges, so they’re just adjusting to our offense and understanding how we work. But the girls that we have are great, so they’ve been adjusting really well.”

INJURY-FREE FALL: Jensen said outside of a sprained ankle suffered by Stremlow that cost her a couple of weeks of work, the Hawkeyes have been mostly injury-free in fall workouts.

“Sometimes a kid gets knocked a little bit, they’re out, and you’re always kind of worried about the concussion protocols,” Jensen said. “Knock on wood, we’ve been pretty healthy. It’s not ideal when you have (a player with an) ankle (injury), but it’s kind of part of what we do. Everybody’s probably had an ankle (injury) or something. So you kind of have to weather it, but thankfully, we’ve been pretty fortunate, and hope that continues.”

NONCONFERENCE SCHEDULE: Iowa’s nonconference schedule includes the other three in-state schools, as well as the WBCA Showcase with Baylor and Miami and a neutral-court game with Connecticut in the Women’s Champions Classic. 

“This schedule is going to give us everything we’re going to face when we get to the Big Ten,” Jensen said. “You know, I’d love to win them all, but the trick is to handle that schedule to come what may, the wins or the losses, but whatever you glean from them is that you’re going to take confidence and lessons into the Big Ten.”

THREE TEAMS OUT: While the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament expanded to include all 18 teams this season, the women’s tournament stayed at 15. 

“That’s a tough one,” Jensen said. “If you ask my son, he was totally about the ‘American dream’ with 18 teams.”

Jensen said USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb talked to members of the NCAA Tournament selection committee before the coaches’ meeting where it was discussed adding the full group of 18 teams. The concern, Jensen said, was a Big Ten team that was on the “bubble” for selection into the tournament suffering a loss to one of the lower teams in the conference. Twelve Big Ten teams made it into the NCAA Tournament last season.

“If you take everybody (into the conference tournament), it would be really hard to be the last-place team and to win all those games (to win the tournament),” Jensen said. “But those middles, you’re taxing them a little bit more, and you’re also putting them in peril, because there’s not too many weak sisters in the Big Ten, honestly.”

Photo: Iowa head coach Jan Jensen speaks at Big Ten basketball media days on Wednesday.