A freeing decision
There was one more seemingly obscure date in Caitlin Clark history that became very important to the final trajectory of her Iowa career: Feb. 28, 2024.
That was the night Iowa played at Minnesota and the day before Clark publicly announced that she was entering the WNBA draft. Clark’s performance that night in Minneapolis was nothing short of sensational – 12 points in the game’s first three minutes, with two “logo” 3-pointers, and 21 in the first 10:58 – on the way to a 108-60 Iowa rout. She recorded a triple-double. With 33 points, she broke Lynette Woodard’s alltime AIAW (pre-NCAA) points mark, putting to rest any dispute about the greatest scorer in Division I women’s basketball history.
The announcement, finally, seemed to channel more media coverage toward Clark’s deserving teammates.
Kate Martin’s career began to be warmly appreciated for her toughness and ability to rise up in big games – like she did in the closing quarter against UConn after suffering a bloody nose in the national semifinals.
Gabbie Marshall’s defense was appreciated more than ever, especially as the undersized guard rose up and recorded critical late-game blocked shots in postseason wins over Nebraska and West Virginia. Her incredible effort in defending UConn star Paige Bueckers (not to mention drawing the gameclinching moving screen) will be forever cherished by Hawkeye fans.
Molly Davis’ knee injury and the outpouring of love from fans served as a heartwarming sidebar to Iowa’s postseason run. Sharon Goodman’s selfless approach as a teammate despite a midseason benching was highlighted and applauded by Hawkeye fans.
Clark drew the viewers, but this team contributed to them staying for the show.
Clark’s first nine games as a Hawkeye were available only on streaming services. Her 10th game was seen by 54,000 viewers on Big Ten Network. Flash-forward barely three years, and viewership of Clark’s last three games are the three most-watched women’s basketball games ever: 12.3 million for Iowa’s Elite Eight win over LSU; 14.4 million for Iowa’s Final Four win over UConn; and 18.9 million viewers on ABC for the 87-75 title-game loss against South Carolina.
That was the most-watched basketball game – college or pro – on any network since the Virginia-Texas Tech men’s final in 2019. The Iowa-South Carolina number outdrew this year’s UConn-Purdue men’s championship game (14.8 million), the Grammys (17.1 million) and the Alabama-Georgia SEC championship football game (17.5 million).
How it happened is less important to Clark than how it will be remembered.
“At the end of the day, people aren’t going to remember how many points I scored,” she said the day before Iowa’s game against UConn. “Like my buzzerbeating shots versus whoever. That’s not going to matter to people in the end.
“I hope they remember how we made them feel, how we brought joy to their lives, how we gave their families something to scream about on the TV on the weekends.
“I hope all the young boys and girls remember the joy that we played with and how we took 10 seconds of our time to sign their autograph and that inspired them to be whatever they want to be.
“I think I’m speaking for our entire team, and that’s what we’re the most proud of, the way we’ve carried ourselves through this entire process. I think that’s additionally allowed us to have so much success on the court, just the team and the family we’ve built over the past four years.”