CLEVELAND (AP) – Caitlin Clark doesn’t want to think about it. Or he doesn’t want to talk about it. That will come later. Probably much later.
Yes, the Iowa Star will see the stands packed. A pop is heard in the crowd as you roll another 3-pointer away from the logo. She feels the media overload around her. Needless to say, her name was all over the place for over four months and it changed her life and, in some ways, her sport.
This is the reality. All-time scoring leader in NCAA Division 1 history I thought of some of these. After a heartbreaking loss to LSU in the national title game the year before, Clark’s only focus was finding a way back.
One paradigm-shifting season later, that moment arrived Sunday.
And last year’s finale against LSU ended the same way — as Clark and the Hawkeyes walked off the floor amid confetti that fell for others. South Carolina celebrates its second title in three years. – She tried to put it in perspective.
Yes, she wanted to win. Bad. And she played like it, especially in the first quarter when she poured in 18 points, her most in an NCAA final quarter. Yet deep and persistent Gamecocks Clark and Hawkeyes wore. She finished 30th overall with 20 seconds to go before being hugged by coach Lisa Bluder.
There were no tears. Not officially anyway. Instead, when she arrived on campus four years ago, she was credited with a remarkable journey of few.
“The emotion will probably hit me for the next couple of days,” Clark said. “I don’t have a lot of time to sit around and be angry and upset. I don’t think so either. Yes, I’m sad that we lost this game, but I’m also proud of myself, I’m proud of my teammates, I’m very proud of this program. “We have a lot to be proud of.”
Clark’s influence
Evidence of how far Clark and women’s college basketball has come was everywhere in the last month, nowhere more so than in the Final Four with the star power both on the court and in the stands.
When Clark’s now-famous No. 22 took the floor for Saturday’s Iowa Open practice, the arena was nearly full. Dressed in a black jersey, shorts and socks, she ran to meet her teammates and sank a 3-pointer from the wing on her first touch.
It was like this in 50 irregular minutes. The cameras in the arena never went too far. The people have never really been silent. It never works when Clark is involved.
It’s been that way for a while. She does it all with an unusual Polish survey, welcoming the attention as it gives her the power to point it in the direction she wants.
Clark doesn’t see herself as one, but she is part of a growing ecosystem in women’s sports. Of course, a record 14.2 million tuned in to watch Iowa’s win over UConn on Friday night. You don’t see it as just a one-off.
“Whether it’s softball or gymnastics, volleyball, I think you’ll see it across the board,” Clark said. “People want to watch.” Only when given the chance do the research and the facts show that people love it.
And they especially love Clarke, a full circle moment that Clarke didn’t see coming. As a child, she remembers being part of the “Jimmer-mania” that surrounded former BYU sharpshooter Jimmer Freditt.
Now she’s the one with the kids wearing her logo t-shirt. She is the one who sells out basketball games wherever she wears the black and yellow Knicks. The whole thing is a little strange, because that was never her intention.
Growing up, she dreamed of helping Iowa pursue women’s basketball powerhouses. Now she and the Hawkeyes elbow their way among the sport’s elite. That was always the goal, surprisingly not all that came with it: the commercials, name drops like Hoops Royalty. LeBron James And Steph Curry And the way she helped make women’s basketball accessible to an audience that considered it afterthought.
It can be dizzying. But she tried to keep it in perspective by stressing whenever she could, thinking that this thing – whatever it was – wasn’t just about her. It’s about what happened before and what will come after.
That’s a team. It is spreading rapidly..
As Clark and the Hawkeyes went through a walk that doubled as a celebration of how far they’ve come, a young girl held a sign that read, “I used to play football, now I do hoops.” She is not alone.
“I truly believe every time Caitlin breaks a record or leaves a game, thousands of boys and girls want to shoot and be 22 years old,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “thousands”
What’s next?
The main stage – at least at this stage – is ready to give to others. It’s a moment Clarke knows is coming, even if she doesn’t get ahead of herself. Being too busy at the end of everything takes a lot of energy from the work done.
“I know the next thing is going to happen soon,” she said Sunday. “But at the same time, it’s unknown if I don’t know that I have to enjoy this. I have to soak this in.”
of WNBA draftClark was originally expected to be taken by Indiana fever on April 15, a little more than a week away. Maybe some time with Team USA before the Paris Olympics.
It was a whirlwind. It will be a storm. There will be time to reflect on the road. Sunday ended a part of her life. Next week begins another one. She hoped the people who made it into the tent would stick around for what was to come.
“I don’t really get mad when people say I’ve never seen women’s basketball,” she says. “I think, one, you’re a little late to the party, yes. But, two, that’s good. We are changing the game. We are attracting more people to it.
People who watched to root for her. People who looked to root on her. People watching with curiosity. People looked on in shock.
Clark doesn’t care how or why they came along for the ride. It’s simply important that they do, and that means more than any neat cutting ritual.
“It’s not just the way people show up, but the way they enjoy the game and invest in the game, they understand the game,” she said. “You know what it is. They are excited for it. To me, this is the best thing.
That’s a Kathleen Clarke thing.
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