It’s Huskies vs. Hawkeyes
While the Bueckers-Clark matchup draws the attention, both sides stress the importance of team
SAN ANTONIO — From a pure entertainment standpoint, Paige BueckersCaitlin Clark has the makings of terrific theater. Both freshmen are electrifying talents with engaging personalities, and both have plenty to prove.
“Muhammad Ali and (Joe) Frazier, when I was a kid that was the heavyweight matchup,” said Carol Stiff, ESPN’s vice president of programming and acquisitions. “I guess we would call this the featherweight.”
One of the most anticipated one-on-one matchups of the NCAA Tournament — if not the season — will get prime exposure Saturday on national television, with a 1 p.m. tipoff on ABC for the Sweet 16 matchup
between top-seeded UConn and No. 5 Iowa. Eyes are sure to be glued to the screen. Bueckers knows this. Clark knows this.
But Bueckers and Clark
— who happen to be good friends — don’t want it to be about just them.
“It’s more than just me and Paige,” Clark, Iowa’s 6-foot guard, said Thursday on Zoom. “UConn’s super talented.”
UConn’s Bueckers, also a guard, is a Naismith Trophy finalist and perhaps the favorite to win this year’s award as the nation’s top player — something no freshman has ever done. Clark leads the nation in scoring at 26.7 points per game.
“It’s been a while since you have two kids that’ve had this kind of an impact both on their teams and on the game itself nationally,” said UConn coach Geno Auriemma, now in his 36th season. “To have one is kind of cool, but to have
two, and to be so alike in so many ways and yet, now unfortunately they’re going to be put in a situation where it’s like a big football game and they say it’s (Tom) Brady versus Aaron Rodgers.”
Auriemma thinks that narrative is too narrowminded.
“Couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said. “It’s two really, really young kids, really good players that do a lot for their teams, but like it always is in these games, they’re just a part of it. I think they would tell you, ‘Hey, we appreciate the attention, but I think it’s better if it’s left to Iowa versus UConn.’ ”
UConn and Iowa come from different ends of the basketball spectrum. The Huskies, the No. 1 seed in the River Walk region, have been to 12 consecutive Final Fours. The Hawkeyes have
been to just one (1993).
Clark, who poured in 35 points in a second-round win over Kentucky, is trying to change that, trying to put the Hawkeyes (20-9) more on the map, so to speak.
“That’s what you want in women’s basketball,” Clark said. “I think you’re starting to see more and more upsets. I don’t know if that was because of the neutral court this year (many schools played in empty arenas because of the pandemic) or because teams are just getting better and better where it’s not just the blue bloods all the time. Obviously, those blue bloods are always going to be there … but you want those upsets, you want that excitement.”
Clark, a local product from Des Moines, Iowa, burst onto the national consciousness this season and will have an even bigger profile this week. So, too, will Bueckers, who has been lauded since before
she even arrived at UConn. One of them will win USBWA Freshman of the Year. One may even capture a national championship.
Both will help grow the sport immensely.
“Obviously we both had great respective seasons,” Clark said. “I think that’s just so great for the women’s game. I think more and more people are noticing, more and more people are watching. I think a lot of people will tune in and watch this game (Saturday), and that’s exactly what you want for women’s basketball. I think that’s the whole goal that all women’s athletes are trying to get across right now.
“There can be multiple superstars, there can be multiple good players. It doesn’t have to be one endall-be-all. And that’s what we need to keep growing.”