Caitlin Clark set out to turn Iowa into a winner. She redefined women's college hoops along the way

Iowa ’s Caitlin Clark smiles as she arrives for practice for the NCAA Women’s Final Four championship basketball game Saturday, April 6, 2024, in Cleveland. Fans cheer as Iowa takes the court during practice for the NCAA Women’s Final Four championship basketball game Saturday, April 6, 2024, in Cleveland. Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder poses for a selfie with a fan during practice for the NCAA Women’s Final Four championship basketball game Saturday, April 6, 2024, in Cleveland.

It was that way over the course of 50 mostly informal minutes. The cameras in the arena never wandered too far. The crowd never really went silent. It never really does when Clark is involved. “I think you see it across the board, whether it’s softball, whether it’s gymnastics, volleyball,” Clark said. “People want to watch. It’s just when they’re given the opportunity, the research and the facts show that people love it.”

Growing up she dreamed of helping Iowa chase down the women’s basketball powers that be. Now she and the Hawkeyes have elbowed their way among the sport’s elite. That was always the goal, not all that has surprisingly come with it: the commercials, the name-drops from hoops royalty likeand the way she’s helped make women’s basketball accessible to an audience that long considered it an afterthought if it considered it at all.

“I genuinely believe every time that Caitlin breaks a record or comes off a game, there are thousands of boys and girls out shooting and wanting to be 22,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “Thousands.”The original is ready to cede the stage — at least at this level — to others. It’s a moment Clark knows is coming, even though she’s made it a point to not get ahead of herself. Getting too caught up in the last-ness of everything would take too much energy from the task at hand.

Caitlin Clark Womens College Basketball NCAA Womens Division I Basketball Championship Iowa Hawkeyes SC State Wire March Madness NCAA Tournament Iowa Hawkeyes Womens Basketball NCAA Womens Bracket IA State Wire Sports Iowa

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