Iowa women hoops media day notebook: Caitlin Clark paying close attention to weather forecasts
By John Bohnenkamp
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Caitlin Clark is becoming an amateur meteorologist.
The weather is going to be the biggest factor for the Crossover At Kinnick event at Kinnick Stadium on October 15. Outdoor basketball certainly doesn’t need rain (or snow — it is October in Iowa) and a lack of wind would be nice when Iowa’s women’s basketball team takes on DePaul in an exhibition game at the Hawkeyes’ football stadium.
Clark, the reigning national player of the year whose career has been built on long-range shots and pinpoint passing, would like a perfect weather day.
“Yeah, I’ve been checking the weather,” Clark said at the Hawkeyes’ media day on Wednesday. “Thirty-day forecasts. Are those something you should trust? I don’t know. But it looks good.”
The AccuWeather forecast for that day currently calls for plenty of sun and a temperature of 66 degrees, with only a slight wind.
Approximately 47,000 tickets have been sold for the event, which benefits the University of Iowa’s Stead Children’s Hospital.
Asked why she decided to do the event, Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said, “Why not? You’re going to play exhibitions anyway. And first of all, all the money we make is going to go to the children’s hospital. Why not give my women an experience that not many people around the country get to do? We’re going to be the first women’s basketball game televised in the country.
“I think it brings national attention to not only our program but to the University of Iowa. Why wouldn’t we try to do this.”
Bluder came up with the idea after an estimated 9,000 people showed up on the Pentacrest on campus to celebrate the Hawkeyes’ trip to the Final Four and the national championship game last season.
“I was like, 9,000 people are coming to a celebration and there’s no game or anything?” Bluder said.
Bluder remembered how Iowa’s men’s wrestling team played host to Oklahoma State in an outdoor wrestling dual at Kinnick Stadium in 2015.
“Obviously we all know, and it’s in the back of your mind, that wrestling did this not so long ago very successfully, so it can be done,” Bluder said. “When I went to our athletics director, Beth Goetz, she said yes without blinking.”
Iowa’s football team is at Wisconsin the day before, so there is no conflict with a game.
“All of our administration took on so much added work,” Bluder said. “This is an away football weekend, and it’s going to be treated like a football weekend almost.”
“Obviously all the proceeds are going to the children’s hospital, which is super cool, too, so it’s for a really great cause,” Clark said. “But at the same time, it’s an opportunity for us to get better. Like, this is our scrimmage. We get to go out there and compete and work on things.”
Clark knows there will be some unpredictability even if the weather is perfect.
“I’m going to plan on shooting two air balls just because of the wind,” she joked.
Being outside, and in a football stadium, presents plenty of challenges.
“I think back to my freshman year when we played inside of the Alamodome or whatever it is in San Antonio (for the NCAA tournament,” Clark said. “The depth perception was really weird, but once you get in the flow of the game, it’s not something you’re thinking about all the time.
“Then obviously you can’t really factor in for (playing) outside. I’m not going to go and work out at a park. I’m just not going to do that. But we are going to take a shootaround in the morning before. So it will be nice to get out there and be able to shoot around and kind of see the environment, so when we go out and scrimmage, we’re not going to be completely blind. We’re going to have some sort of feel for the court and what it’s like.”
It’s all about the weather.
“I think on Sunday is when I’ll start really watching the weather, but I’m excited,” Clark said.
**********
NO BRACE: Iowa guard Kylie Feuerbach missed all last season as she recovered from knee surgery. She’s back and playing, but without a brace on the knee.
“A lot of people usually do opt (to play) with the brace,” she said. “I decided to go without it because I’m the type of person that if I have the brace, I would tend to overcompensate on the other leg. If I feel great, I might as well not wear it.”
“In the past we’ve had our players that are coming off ACLs wear braces,” Bluder said. “She’s elected not to, and I think mentally that’s helped her, and maybe us, to forget about it.
“She is playing very well. She had a great practice yesterday, actually, a really good practice.”
**********
TOUGH SCHEDULE: Eleven teams on Iowa’s schedule are preseason top-25 teams.
The nonconference schedule includes a neutral-court game against Virginia Tech, a Final Four team last season. Iowa also gets Kansas State at home, possible matchups against North Carolina and Kansas State in the Gulf Coast Showcase tournament over Thanksgiving weekend, and a game against NCAA tournament team Cleveland State in Des Moines. Iowa also plays Iowa State and Northern Iowa on the road and Drake at home.
“It is a very challenging schedule,” Bluder said.