116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Monday’s real home finale for Iowa’s Caitlin Clark won’t be sentimental. It’s win or ...
The Hawkeyes have their hands full in a second-round NCAA tourney game against West Virginia. Which probably is just the way Clark wants it.
Mar. 24, 2024 4:51 pm
IOWA CITY — When Caitlin Clark arrived here, she belonged to no one.
In the 2020-21 season she was a freshman getting daily COVID-19 tests and playing her first season of college basketball games for Iowa in front of cardboard cutouts in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Instead of the commotion caused by 15,000 fawning fans, you could clearly here squeaking shoes and a bouncing ball echoing throughout an empty coliseum.
Monday, Clark plays in Carver for the last time as a Hawkeye. She belongs to the nation. Even a reporter for France premium television channel Canal+ has been here this weekend for the first two rounds of the NCAA women’s tournament.
“Who are you, Caitlin Clark, on and off the court?” Remi Vorano asked her after the Hawkeyes beat Holy Cross here Saturday.
“Holy cow, that’s a loaded question,” Clark said. “We could go anywhere. You can Google that one. Google it and get your answers.”
Vorano said France, the homeland of NBA rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama, doesn’t know Clark yet. Just “specialists, let’s just say, of basketball. … If she’s in Paris, of course, for the Olympics, that would be a bigger story.”
“To see her poster downtown (a Nike-sponsored, 7-story-tall banner of Clark shooting a jumper on the side of an Iowa City building) made us think of Zinedine Zidane in France when he won the World Cup. They put the same thing on one of the buildings in Marseille, his hometown.
“We’re talking about the best soccer player in the world at that time. Caitlin, tremendously successful of course, but to us she’s a collegiate athlete and she has the same tribute as Zidane would have. That is really impressive.”
All the interest from both sides of the Atlantic are of no concern Monday night. Lose to a physical, Big 12-tested, 25-win West Virginia team, and the greatest sports story ever told at the University of Iowa ends with a stunning, sour final chapter.
Senior Day came and went for Clark and four other Hawkeyes three weeks ago. This game and tournament are all business, no sentiment.
Saturday, Clark wasn’t in her typical happy warrior mode. Sure, she has questioned officials and showed frustration in plenty of other games. But those are moments. Against Holy Cross, she seemed on edge or agitated throughout the contest.
She even head-butted the ball after getting triple-teamed and tied up.
Perhaps it was from dipping her feet back in the NCAA tourney and going one-on-one with the expectations she puts on herself and her team in this event. She disagreed.
“I don't think it's like any different than what I've experienced over the last two years,” Clark said. “I think I've been able to kind of step away and focus on my business and what that is, and that's on helping this team win.”
West Virginia certainly figures to be a tougher opponent than Holy Cross, which could bring out a happier Clark. After 34 games this season, the true showtime is now.
“The biggest thing our team needs to remember is we've worked for this, we've earned it,” Clark said. “Sure, there's pressure, but it's not anything you shy away from. We've performed to that level all year long, and these are some of the most fun moments of basketball right now.”
The Frenchman was back at Carver Sunday to pose a question to Clark. This time, she had an answer.
“What kind of a champion, what kind of a person and personality would you love to become?” Vorano asked.
“Did you Google it last night?” Clark joked.
“The way I've gone about my college career is how I want to continue to live the rest of my life, whether it's playing professional basketball, whether it's my dreams outside of basketball.
“I have a lot of goals and aspirations in basketball … but at the end of the day, basketball isn't the end-all, be-all for me.
“I told my mom earlier this week I know I can hold my head high whatever happens in this tournament because I've given my heart and soul to this program, and so have my teammates. I've loved every single second of wearing ‘Iowa’ across my chest.”
And now, for Clark’s last time as a Hawkeye in her home arena, it’s showtime.
Comments: (319) 398-8440; mike.hlas@thegazette.com
Daily Newsletters