5-star women’s basketball recruit McKenna Woliczko picks Iowa

More so, Woliczko will be leaving a Bay Area sports scene where professional sports rule the media landscape. Now, in a state where there are no major league sports, she will be in the spotlight where the Hawkeyes receive top billing statewide, and the fervent fanbase consistently fills the 15,500 seats in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“That’s so awesome,” Woliczko said. “I think that Iowa and the fans have definitely helped shape women’s basketball, and also with Caitlin and [Iowa greats Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall] and all of them, I think they have definitely made a new era of basketball.”

Woliczko’s final four schools included USC, Ohio State and South Carolina, but when she announced her final 10 schools prior to her junior season of 2024-25, local juggernaut Stanford was on the list.

Now, she is ranked the No. 6 senior recruit in the nation, according to 247Sports, despite not playing most of her junior season due to a season-ending knee injury suffered Jan. 4 against Ontario Christian at the Sabrina Ionescu Showcase at Carondelet-Concord. The injury cost the two-sport athlete the remainder of her junior basketball season, and the entire softball season in the spring.

“I cannot begin to believe today’s buzz, not just locally but nationally about my commitment to Iowa,” Woliczko said. “All my teammates at Archbishop Mitty in both basketball and softball, I celebrate this commitment with all of them.”

A 6-2 forward, Woliczko was leading the Monarchs in scoring and rebounding for the third straight season at the time of her injury. She underwent surgery Jan. 29 to repair a torn ACL.

Mitty head coach Sue Phillips said she expects Woliczko will be back on the court for her senior season, but there is no target date for her return.

“She will definitely play more games than she doesn’t play, if that makes sense,” Phillips said. “So, we anticipate her playing. I don’t know when. And we’re elated to have her back whenever that happens.”

Despite the injury, Woliczko was on the Mitty sideline during last season’s CIF Open Division State Championship finals March 15 against Etiwanda. The Monarchs lost for the third straight year against the same Southern California-champion Eagles squad.

“I am confident to say that if McKenna were on the floor with us, there could have been a different outcome,” Phillips said. “When you lose your leading rebounder and scorer — that’s not to sell short her teammates, because they are a fantastic group — but we really had our rhythm going with everyone on the squad, including McKenna. So, whether she’s on the floor or on the sideline, she is an incredible presence to our team in the most positive of ways.”

While Woliczko was still on crutches, she was regularly on her feet during timeouts, in the team huddles, and making her presence felt both emotionally and vocally.

“At that moment, I had just got my brace off,” Woliczko said. “And I was just happy to be feeling like I can move around, and of course I wanted to be in every single huddle, everything I could be in. Even when I was on crutches, I was crutching over to be in every single huddle. I wanted to be a part of the team because I still was.”

Woliczko has played the power forward spot through high school, but the knee injury limited her to shooting upon her return to the basketball activities. She said this might just pay dividends down the road as she takes on more of a shooting role in college.

“In high school and AAU I played a lot of post, so I feel like my post game can help me at the next level,” Woliczko said. “But I do think I’ll become more of a wing in college and so on, which that’s something my knee has actually benefitted, because I can’t do much. Like, I can’t pivot or do post moves; I can shoot. So, I’ve really been working on my shooting and my 3 ball. So, I think that will definitely really help not only this season, but in college.”