Rebecca Lobo lauds Caitlin Clark’s improvement, WNBA potential ahead of ESPN College GameDay’s return

IOWA CITY — When ESPN gave Rebecca Lobo the dates for 2024 College GameDay shows in “maybe October or November,” one of the options for the March 3 show quickly stood out.

“Oh my gosh, we have a date that coincides with Caitlin Clark’s senior day,” Lobo remembers saying. “I know we (ESPN) don’t have the game, but we’ve got to do everything possible to get out there.”

Several months later, Lobo has gotten her wish as the ESPN College GameDay women’s basketball crew will broadcast live from Carver-Hawkeye Arena before Iowa’s much-anticipated game on Sunday against Ohio State.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am,” Lobo said in a phone call with The Gazette. “Obviously I wish we had the game so that we could call the game, too, but there’s something that’s pretty awesome about staying and sort of watching it as a fan of basketball.”

Lobo will be in Iowa City alongside host Elle Duncan and fellow commentators Andraya Carter, Carolyn Peck and Holly Rowe for the show, which will air from 10-11 a.m. (Fox will broadcast the game itself, which tips off at noon.)

The show will precede Clark’s final home regular-season game as a Hawkeye. The star guard announced this week her plans to declare for the 2024 WNBA Draft, forgoing her fifth and final year of eligibility.

“That makes Senior Day to me even more impactful,” Lobo said. “All of these fans know that the end is nearing for her in terms of the amount of games she’s going to have in Carver-Hawkeye, so the environment is going to be just spectacular.”

Lobo, one of the faces of women’s basketball for the last three decades, has been impressed with how Clark has handled the intense spotlight this season.

“Whoever she’s getting her advice from have done a phenomenal job because she hasn’t had a misstep,” Lobo said. “I’ve not seen anything where she’s done anything that you shake your head and you’re like, ‘Oh I wish she hadn’t done that. I wish she hadn’t said that.’ … She has handled this so beautifully.”

On the court, the 2017 Naismith Hall of Fame inductee believes Clark is an “all-around better player” than she was a year ago.

“Even more command of what she’s doing on the offensive end,” Lobo said of the reigning National Player of the Year. “Even more confident, if that’s possible.”

Along with Clark’s obvious scoring prowess, Lobo plans to talk about the Iowa superstar’s exceptional passing during the ESPN pregame show.

“One of the things that makes her such a great passer is the velocity on her passes and how she delivers them on the money to her shooters,” Lobo said. “Not so much a pick-and-roll kind of thing, but a cross-court dagger that goes right into her teammate’s shooting pocket. … That’s sort of a smaller, more nuanced way that I’ve seen her improve over the last four years.”

When Clark goes to the WNBA later this year, Lobo expects her to adjust to the league “seamlessly.”

That includes the West Des Moines native’s knack for 25-plus-foot 3-pointers. Clark has made more of those shots per game this season than Sabrina Ionescu or Diana Taurasi did last year in the WNBA, according to ESPN research that Lobo requested.

“People know Sabrina does that, people know that Diana does that,” Lobo said. “It’s an unguardable, unstoppable thing that 100 percent will translate. Her pick-and-roll mastery will translate, and she will be in the pick-and-roll game with Aliyah Boston, who is an elite player. She will have Kelsey Mitchell, who is an elite catch-and-shoot 3-point player.”

Clark’s defense has been a common critique when discussing how her game will translate to the WNBA, and Lobo acknowledged that “every rookie guard does” have some challenges on the defensive end.

“The thing is the players around her will be a little bit better in terms of team defense than what she has in college,” Lobo said. “And that’s not a knock on Iowa. That’s just the case any time a player goes from college to the pros."

But before Clark presumably dons an Indiana Fever jersey for the first time, Lobo and Co. can enjoy their second trip to Carver-Hawkeye Arena for ESPN College GameDay in as many years.

The other visit was when Clark hit a buzzer-beating three to lift No. 6 Iowa over No. 2 Indiana.

“I don’t know if the GameDay environment can be better than it was a year ago, but I won’t be surprised if it is,” Lobo said.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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