GOAT(s)

On Sunday afternoon, South Carolina defeated Iowa in the National Championship game, marking the end of perhaps one of the most important moments in women’s sports. Despite a first quarter that saw Caitlin Clark register a historic 18 points – making her the NCAA tournament’s all-time leading scorer – the Gamecocks came out on top. The win made them just the 10th NCAA Division I women’s team to complete a season undefeated, finishing 38-0. 

“It’s been exhausting in the best of ways,” wrote CNN’s Amy Bass. “This year’s women’s tournament just kept getting better with every turn. Even the controversy (and ensuing social media ugliness) that surrounded the final seconds of that Final Four battle, when a referee called foul on UConn’s Aaliyah Edwards for an illegal screen, showed the intensity with which people were following the action.”

“That intensity is proof positive that women’s basketball has exploded. Now we are riding a wave of what can happen when attention is paid to the women’s side of a game, making true in historic ways that we need to invest in women’s sports to get results, not wait for results to invest. And while women’s basketball shouldn’t have needed a Clark or a Cardoso or a Paige Bueckers or a JuJu Watkins or an Angel Reese for the sport to get the respect all its players deserve, basketball now has these names, these athletes and a whole lot more.” 

There are several factors contributing to this explosion – one of the most significant being the Caitlin Clark Effect, which was on full display over the weekend. Two of her future WNBA league-mates, however, aren’t drinking the Clark Kool Aid.

After Iowa knocked off Connecticut in the Final Four on Friday night, Phoenix Mercury and former Huskies guard Diana Taurasi warned that Clark's transition to the professional ranks wouldn't be easy.

The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach asked Breanna Stewart (a fellow former Husky and current New York Liberty player), “does Caitlin Clark need a championship to be considered one of the greats in women's college basketball history?" 

“Yeah. She does," Stewart responded.

My take: it’s pretty obvious that Clark, or any player for that matter, will experience a transition period from college to pro. She knows it. Her future WNBA coach and teammates know it. (Most) fans know it. Which is why, in my opinion, Taurasi’s comment felt unnecessary. It made her seem like a hater with a capital H.

DUH playing against ‘grown women’ will be very different than playing against 18 - 23 year old college players (not every person in college is 18). I’ve been scratching my head as to why she made the comment…and given Taurasi’s incredibly extensive list of accomplishments as a collegiate and professional athlete, don’t think it was driven by jealousy or feeling threatened by Clark. The best I can come up with is a desire to provide a semi hot take on the Big ESPN Stage. 

As far as Stewart’s comments…my thoughts can be summarized by the tweet below. I played against both Iowa and UConn in college and can attest this sentiment is pretty spot on: 

There is a way to be fiercely competitive, like Taurasi and Stewart are, while still acknowledging Clark’s greatness, impact, and undeniable legacy. After her team beat Clark’s, Dawn Staley did that beautifully. True GOAT status, Dawn.