UI Athletics
Caitlin Clark on court in Iowa jersey yelling.
Caitlin Clark fills up the stats lines with style and shares the spotlight with her teammates.
Last month, I saw a photo of University of Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark signing autographs for girls and boys surrounding her in an Iowa high school gym. The caption said something about how women’s basketball has taken a big step forward now that men and boys are fans.
As we like to say in the Midwest when we understand the point, but respectfully disagree: Yeah. No.
The step taken here is by the men and boys who are waking up and realizing that women athletes are skilled, competitive and thrilling to watch.
Clark became the most prolific scorer in college basketball history over the weekend, surpassing Pete Maravich’s 54-year-old mark. At the end of the regular season, she leads the nation in scoring (32.3 points per game), three-pointers (5.4 made per game), and assists (8.7 per game).
She doesn’t just fill up a stats line, she does it with plenty of style, nailing shots from well beyond the 3-point line and finding her teammates with pinpoint passes. The brand of basketball played by Clark and her Iowa teammates is often much more fun to watch than the plodding version favored by the Wisconsin men’s team and many of its Big Ten brethren.
Off the court, Clark’s press conference demeanor is at once confident and self-effacing. She has her eye on a national title — the Hawkeyes lost to Louisiana State in the NCAA tournament finals last year — and she understands that sharing the ever brighter spotlight with her teammates is critical to making that happen.
She’s by far the biggest name in college basketball right now, men or women.
Thanks to Clark’s star power, the Big Ten announced that its women’s basketball tournament, held in Minneapolis this week, sold out in the third week of February. That’s a first for the 31-year-old event. As of deadline, plenty of tickets were available for the men’s tournament next week, also in Minneapolis. That tournament features Zach Edey, the reigning men’s national player of the year.
Even loyal hoop heads need to be reminded that he’s the big dude at Purdue.
Clark’s reputation is sorely needed these days by the NCAA, which is floundering in an uncertain environment where athletes are finding their voices, transferring among schools with dizzying frequency, and benefitting from “name, image and likeness” deals. The organization’s unequal treatment of women athletes was exposed three years ago when basketball players posted social media complaints about the inferior conditions at their tournament venues.
The opportunity for growth in the sports industry — particularly as streaming video of niche sports continues to grab market share from the major networks — is clearly on the women’s side. We’re already seeing that in markets as small as Madison, where the Mallards baseball operation will add a collegiate fast-pitch softball team this summer and League One Volleyball’s local pro franchise is set to begin play in November.
There is also excitement about the first season of the Professional Women’s Hockey League as it exceeds attendance expectations. Minnesota draws the largest crowds in the league, averaging well over 7,000 fans per game.
With Clark’s announcement that she will forego a final season of college eligibility to enter the WNBA draft in April, expect interest in that 27-year-old league to grow as well.
