McKenna Woliczko discusses her ACL injury and decision to commit to Iowa

While on the Nov. 27 airing of "The Rush With Travis and Ross" podcast, prized Iowa women's basketball signee McKenna Woliczko discussed the outpouring of support and areas of comfort following her ACL injury and how she decided on committing to the Hawkeyes.

The 6-foot-2 San Bruno, Calif., native who signed with the Hawkeyes on the first day of the early signing period is entering her senior year at Archbishop Mitty High School, where she is ranked as the nation's No. 6 player by ESPN, Rivals, and 247Sports. According to 247Sports, Woliczko is the country's No. 2 power forward and the No. 2 player from California.

However, a large portion of Woliczko's junior year was lost due to a season-ending ACL injury, which could have led several programs that offered her to reconsider their scholarship invitations. Fortunately, Woliczko said that she was met with tremendous support from nearly every coach and even received assurance that her injury would not impact their pursuit of her commitment.

"So when I tore my ACL, I still had my top 10. And basically, the day that I—well, a lot of people knew I got hurt because it was on Twitter. As soon as I got hurt, on the way to the ER, things were already on Twitter about it and it was definitely very stressful," Woliczko said.

"But the day that I posted it online, basically every single college head coach that I was getting recruited by immediately texted me or called me or called my dad and were like, 'hey, this is not going to affect anything. We still think you're going to be a great player.'"

Woliczko added that she found positivity in her recovery when coaches would remind her that ACL injuries happen all the time and that several professional and Olympic stars still excel after the knee repair.

"I think, personally, the thing that helped me the most and stayed positive about it all was the coaches that would tell me, 'how common is an ACL?' Woliczko added.

"Of all the pro players that have played in the Olympics or played in the WNBA, so many have torn their ACL and are still great. And I think that was one thing that I really enjoyed that people could tell me because then it just put it in perspective that it happens and you can get through it."

Later on the show, Woliczko was asked what many Hawkeyes fans have yearned to know: what truly was the deal-breaker in her commitment decision between South Carolina, USC, Ohio State, and Iowa, and were the monetary figures behind the NIL packages a contributing factor?

"Not at all, actually. You know, I have agents, and my parents, so like, they mostly dealt with the money aspect. I obviously was in the conversations, I knew how much schools would, like, offer, all that stuff, but to me, it wasn't about that," Woliczko answered.

"It was more about the fit and the culture at the school, and where I was going to be the most comfortable. I mean, obviously, you know, nowadays, money is part of it. It's part of the game now, and that's, obviously, it's very arguable. Obviously, I'd argue it's good. But, I mean, it's different."

"But yeah, for me, it was not about the money at all. If anything, I was like, 'I don't need to hear that; I'm just going to go wherever I think is the best fit for me, and the money is like a bonus.'"

As Iowa women's basketball continues to excel under head coach Jan Jensen, Woliczko will arrive in Iowa City next fall with hype not seen since Caitlin Clark stepped foot on campus in 2020. In fact, she is the highest-ranked signee since Clark, who was ranked by ESPN as the No. 4 overall recruit and No. 2 point guard in the 2020 recruiting class and represents the highest-ranked signee in the Jensen era.

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions. Follow Scout on X: @SpringgateNews

This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: McKenna Woliczko discusses her ACL injury and decision to commit to Iowa