Geno Auriemma was sure wrong about Caitlin Clark’s transition to WNBA
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Geno Auriemma is arguably the greatest coach in the history of women’s basketball.
His accomplishments are incredible, the stuff of legends.
Since becoming head coach for the Connecticut women’s basketball team in 1985, Auriemma has won 11 NCAA Division I national championships, the most in women’s college basketball history, and has won eight Naismith College Coach of the Year awards.
He also has led UConn to 17 undefeated conference seasons (including eight consecutive), of which six were undefeated overall seasons.
And he’s not finished yet as UConn should be among the top teams in the country this coming season.
So, when Auriemma speaks, people should listen, except for when he is talking about former Iowa All-America guard Caitlin Clark, because in this case, he seems misguided and a little biased.
Auriemma was a guest on the Dan Patrick Show in early June and he had plenty to say about Clark, and most of what he said would prove to be wrong.
Auriemma also called out Clark’s many fans, saying they were disrespecting the WNBA by believing that Clark would be a huge success as a rookie, which she has since proven to be as the WNBA Rookie of the Year, and a first-team All-WNBA selection.
“If you’re a college player, and a great college player like Caitlin was, the delusional fan base that follows her disrespected the WNBA players by saying she’s going to go in that league and tear it apart,” Auriemma said in June. “There were actually odds, like she’s third or fourth in betting odds of being MVP in the WNBA.
“These people are so disrespectful and so unknowledgeable and so stupid that it gives women’s basketball a bad name. So, the kid was set up for failure right from the beginning.”
Wrong, Geno.
Those so-called delusional fans that predicted that Clark would finish third or fourth in the voting for MVP weren’t disrespecting anybody because they were right.
Clark, who plays for the Indiana Fever, finished fourth in the voting for MVP, receiving 130 total voting points. Clark received six third-place votes, 26 fourth-place votes and 22 fifth-place votes.
She is the first rookie to be named to the first-team of the WNBA since Candace Parker in 2008.
Auriemma also questioned Clark’s physical ability, and how she fits with the current Fever squad, which was struggling in early June.
“This kid’s on the wrong team,” Auriemma said of the 6-foot- Clark. “She’s got the wrong skill set to handle the physicality in the league, and she’s a rookie. Targeted by society, targeted by her looks, targeted by her reputation, and targeted by the disrespect they’ve shown to the WNBA.
“This rookie class isn’t even one of the best rookie classes in the last ten years. She’s just not built for the physicality of this league, and she’s not quick enough to get away from the physicality.”
Wrong again, Geno.
Sure, Clark struggled out of the gate, as did her team, which lost seven of the first eight games this season.
Even a generational talent like Clark needed time to adjust to a new level. Her teammates and coaches also needed time to adjust to her unique skills.
The team persevered through those tough early losses and then steadily improved.
The Fever would go on to make the playoffs as the No. 6 seed, while Clark lived up to being the No. 1 pick in the draft by averaging 19.2 points, 8.4 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game this season.
The West Des Moines native also broke several WNBA rookie records. She set the rookie record for assists with 337, broke the single-game record for assists with 19, became the first rookie to record a triple-double (she had two) and her 122 3-pointers — second-most in any WNBA season — was another rookie record.
A player doesn’t accomplish those things without being able to handle the physicality and having a target on her back.
Clark certainly has parts of her game that she can improve, including her defense and her mid-range game on offense.
But that is part of what makes Caitlin Clark special in that her immense talent is matched by her work ethic and focus.
Clark did everything this past season that Auriemma said she wouldn’t do or that she couldn’t do.
Sadly, Caitlin Clark is sort of a victim of her own success in that some are determined to tear her down out of jealousy, spite and pettiness.
They prefer to overlook all the good that she done for women’s basketball, and how she is impacting the WNBA from a financial standpoint.
Caitlin Clark is the greatest offensive player in the history of women’s college basketball and the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history with 3,951 points.
And remarkably, she’s probably a better passer than shooter, even with her ability to make logo threes.
She is also a winner, having led Iowa to back-to-back NCAA runner-up finishes as a junior and senior, and having led the Fever to the playoffs as a rookie.
If Caitlin Clark ran for governor of Iowa she probably would win by a landslide.
It’s hard to think of any athlete, male or female, that has caught our nation’s attention the way Caitlin Clark has over these past few years. She just has a gift for attracting fans.
What she probably does best of all, however, is prove her critics and naysayers wrong.