{"id":65631,"date":"2026-04-15T21:03:52","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T21:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=65631"},"modified":"2026-04-15T21:03:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T21:03:52","slug":"good-news-iowa-hawkeyes-womens-basketball-top-star-confirms-she-wants-to-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=65631","title":{"rendered":"Good News: Iowa Hawkeyes Women\u2019s Basketball Top Star Confirms She Wants To Return&#8230;."},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"d79db4796efc26332eabfc3f5dafbc76\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<div class=\"hb-ad-inarticle\">\r\n    <div class=\"hb-ad-inner\"> \r\n    <div class=\"hbagency_cls\"  id=\"hbagency_space_111930\"><\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Good News: Iowa Hawkeyes Women\u2019s Basketball Top Star Confirms She Wants To Return<\/p>\n<p>In a major boost for the Iowa Hawkeyes, one of the program\u2019s top stars has officially confirmed her intention to return for the upcoming season, giving fans renewed hope and excitement heading into 2026\u201327.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Reports indicate that Iowa center Layla Hays is set to stay with the program, signaling continuity and stability for a team navigating roster changes and the transfer portal. Her return comes at a crucial time, as the Hawkeyes look to rebuild and remain competitive in the Big Ten after a solid 27\u20137 campaign last season.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hays\u2019 decision is more than just a roster update\u2014it represents leadership and belief in the program\u2019s direction under head coach Jan Jensen. With several departures and new additions, including key transfers and highly rated recruits, Iowa is entering a transitional phase. But having a proven player return provides a strong foundation for the team to build around.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Fans will also be excited about the mix of experience and young talent. The arrival of five-star recruit McKenna Woliczko and other emerging players, combined with returning contributors like Hays, creates a balanced squad capable of making noise next season.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>For Iowa, this is exactly the kind of news that shifts momentum. In an era where transfers dominate headlines, loyalty and continuity still matter\u2014and the Hawkeyes just got a big win before the season even begins.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Good News: Iowa Hawkeyes Women\u2019s Basketball Top Star Confirms She Wants To Return In a major boost for the Iowa Hawkeyes, one of the program\u2019s top stars has officially confirmed her intention to return for the upcoming season, giving fans renewed hope and excitement heading into 2026\u201327. &nbsp; Reports indicate that Iowa center Layla Hays [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[814,806],"class_list":["post-65631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-iowa-hawkeyes-basketball","tag-iowa-hawkeyes-womens-basketball"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Good News: Iowa Hawkeyes Women\u2019s Basketball Top Star....<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Good News: Iowa Hawkeyes Women\u2019s Basketball Top Star Confirms She Wants To Return............................\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=65631\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Good News: Iowa Hawkeyes Women\u2019s Basketball Top Star....\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Good News: Iowa Hawkeyes Women\u2019s Basketball Top Star Confirms She Wants To Return............................\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=65631\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"letsportsrock\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-15T21:03:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/22-iowa-hawkeyes-celebrates-three-954476615.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"letsportsrock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"letsportsrock\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=65631#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=65631\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"letsportsrock\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a454ac24e58b214ddd97e4b5afb0bf01\"},\"headline\":\"Good News: Iowa Hawkeyes Women\u2019s Basketball Top Star Confirms She Wants To Return&#8230;.\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-15T21:03:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=65631\"},\"wordCount\":258,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=65631#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/22-iowa-hawkeyes-celebrates-three-954476615.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Iowa Hawkeyes basketball\",\"Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=65631#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=65631\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=65631\",\"name\":\"Good News: Iowa Hawkeyes Women\u2019s Basketball Top Star....\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=65631#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=65631#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/22-iowa-hawkeyes-celebrates-three-954476615.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-15T21:03:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a454ac24e58b214ddd97e4b5afb0bf01\"},\"description\":\"Good News: Iowa Hawkeyes Women\u2019s Basketball Top Star Confirms She Wants To Return............................\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=65631#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=65631\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=65631#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/22-iowa-hawkeyes-celebrates-three-954476615.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/22-iowa-hawkeyes-celebrates-three-954476615.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=65631#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Good News: Iowa Hawkeyes Women\u2019s Basketball Top Star Confirms She Wants To Return&#8230;.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"letsportsrock\",\"description\":\"Sport News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a454ac24e58b214ddd97e4b5afb0bf01\",\"name\":\"letsportsrock\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f8ef950cbb7574c0bc874094b8d307659bfe2d7aa4a9d26fa6917eff010748f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f8ef950cbb7574c0bc874094b8d307659bfe2d7aa4a9d26fa6917eff010748f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f8ef950cbb7574c0bc874094b8d307659bfe2d7aa4a9d26fa6917eff010748f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"letsportsrock\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Good News: Iowa Hawkeyes Women\u2019s Basketball Top Star....","description":"Good News: Iowa Hawkeyes Women\u2019s Basketball Top Star Confirms She Wants To Return............................","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=65631","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Good News: Iowa Hawkeyes Women\u2019s Basketball Top Star....","og_description":"Good News: Iowa Hawkeyes Women\u2019s Basketball Top Star Confirms She Wants To Return............................","og_url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=65631","og_site_name":"letsportsrock","article_published_time":"2026-04-15T21:03:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/22-iowa-hawkeyes-celebrates-three-954476615.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"letsportsrock","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"letsportsrock","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=65631#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=65631"},"author":{"name":"letsportsrock","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a454ac24e58b214ddd97e4b5afb0bf01"},"headline":"Good News: Iowa Hawkeyes Women\u2019s Basketball Top Star Confirms She Wants To Return&#8230;.","datePublished":"2026-04-15T21:03:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=65631"},"wordCount":258,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=65631#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/22-iowa-hawkeyes-celebrates-three-954476615.jpg","keywords":["Iowa Hawkeyes basketball","Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=65631#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=65631","url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=65631","name":"Good News: Iowa Hawkeyes Women\u2019s Basketball Top Star....","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=65631#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=65631#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/22-iowa-hawkeyes-celebrates-three-954476615.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-15T21:03:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a454ac24e58b214ddd97e4b5afb0bf01"},"description":"Good News: Iowa Hawkeyes Women\u2019s Basketball Top Star Confirms She Wants To Return............................","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=65631#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=65631"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=65631#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/22-iowa-hawkeyes-celebrates-three-954476615.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/22-iowa-hawkeyes-celebrates-three-954476615.jpg","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=65631#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Good News: Iowa Hawkeyes Women\u2019s Basketball Top Star Confirms She Wants To Return&#8230;."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/","name":"letsportsrock","description":"Sport News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a454ac24e58b214ddd97e4b5afb0bf01","name":"letsportsrock","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8ef950cbb7574c0bc874094b8d307659bfe2d7aa4a9d26fa6917eff010748f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8ef950cbb7574c0bc874094b8d307659bfe2d7aa4a9d26fa6917eff010748f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8ef950cbb7574c0bc874094b8d307659bfe2d7aa4a9d26fa6917eff010748f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"letsportsrock"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/22-iowa-hawkeyes-celebrates-three-954476615.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=65631"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65640,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65631\/revisions\/65640"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/65639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=65631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=65631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=65631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}