Caitlin Clark is “the only reason” for the surge in interest in women’s basketball, national championship-winning South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said Wednesday.
Over the past 13 months, the television viewership record for a women’s basketball game has been broken four times, and an Iowa team led by Clark participated in all four contests.
First, it was Iowa against LSU in last year’s national championship game, followed by the Hawkeyes’ final three games of this year’s NCAA Tournament, culminating in a matchup against Staley’s Gamecocks, which was watched by an average of 18.7 million.
The spotlight has never been brighter on Clark, who was selected No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever in Monday’s WNBA Draft.
Staley’s comments came alongside Clark’s introductory press conference with Fever, where Barstool’s Dave Portnoy called a journalist a “sexist pervert” and demanded his employer take action after his awkward exchange with Clark.
Clark has been part of the rise in popularity of women’s basketball in recent years.
Staley is considered a pioneer in women’s basketball and has given a lot of credit to Clark.
“I want women’s basketball to grow and I’m not ashamed to say why it’s growing,” Staley told 670 The Score in Chicago about Clark. “She’s grown it over the last two years.”
“We need to make sure we tell the stories of our entire game, so sometimes you have to go against the masses to just say what’s happening in real time,” Staley said.
“Caitlin Clark is the only reason viewership has gone through the roof in our game. “Only reason,” Staley continued. “The only reason and I think the decision makers are doing the same thing by making sure other games are played besides Caitlin Clark, because if you play Caitlin Clark, you’re going to run into someone you might consider pretty good.”
Iowa played LSU twice in the record-breaking foursome, with Angel Reese leading those Tigers’ teams. Clark led the Hawkeyes past Paige Bueckers and UConn in the Final Four before falling to South Carolina two weeks ago.
The Gamecocks defeated the Hawkeyes in Clark’s final college game two weeks ago.
Staley mentioned that Clark hopefully brought the audience along and gave them a chance to also be interested in other players she teams with or plays against, like Reese’s now teammate on the WNBA’s Chicago Sky, Kamilla Cardoso.
Staley was one of five players Clark mentioned as part of her ‘Saturday Night Live’ cameo who ‘knocked down the door’ of women’s basketball that ‘she can get in’ by joining the WNBA.
And during his first media appearance with the Fever, Indianapolis Star reporter Gregg Doyel mimicked the former Iowa star’s gesture before saying, “Start doing it with me and we’ll get along.”
Doyel has come under fire for his comments, with some claiming that Fever should revoke his trade credentials.