IOWA CITY, Iowa >> Iowa’s Kylie Feuerbach will always consider Caitlin Clark a teammate, whether the top overall pick in the WNBA draft is going to concerts or hanging out with Taylor Swift at an NFL game.

And that’s why Feuerbach always gets a good laugh wherever Clark shows up in the media.

“We talk about this all the time, but it’s crazy, because you don’t really realize it until you start seeing all the Instagram posts or news (headlines), whatever it is, because obviously we know her as a friend and a teammate,” Feuerbach, a senior guard for the Hawkeyes, said Friday. “So seeing her at that level, it’s kind of just out of this world, but it’s crazy. It’s awesome to see all the publicity she gets. Obviously, she deserves it, and she’s worked really hard to where she’s at now.”

Clark is returning to the place where she became all-time leading men’s or women’s scorer in NCAA Division I history and led the Hawkeyes to appearances in the NCAA national championship game the last two seasons while winning the national player of the year award twice. On Sunday, Clark will have her jersey number 22 retired in a ceremony at Carver-Hawkeye Arena after Iowa’s game against No. 4 USC.

For the Hawkeyes, the first season without Clark has been “unique,” coach Jan Jensen said. The Hawkeyes are 14-7 overall and 4-6 in the Big Ten in Jensen’s first season as head coach.

Iowa opened the season 12-2 and were in The Associated Press Top 25 before a five-game losing streak knocked them out of the rankings and put their NCAA Tournament hopes in jeopardy.

It’s been a struggle at times for Jensen, an assistant coach since 2000 who took over the team in May when Lisa Bluder retired.

“This whole year has been unique,” Jensen said, noting the loss of key players like Clark, Kate Martin, Gabbie Marshall, Sharon Goodman and Molly Davis from last season’s team that lost to South Carolina in the national title game, as well as the departures of Bluder and longtime assistant coach Jenni Fitzgerald.

“There’s been a lot of firsts, and a lot of different situations that we’ve been navigating.”