The South Carolina Gamecocks rule the roost once again. After defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday afternoon, Dawn Staley‘s women are champions for the second time in three years, an 87-75 victory at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland the icing on top of a 38-0 cake. The Gamecocks‘ perfect season came at the expense of ending Caitlin Clark‘s college career — the Iowa star is turning pro after leading the Hawkeyes to consecutive championship games, but coming up empty both times.
Even still, Clark‘s legacy in college basketball has been secured after a historic four-year run in Iowa City. And one of the first things Staley did following her third championship win as a coach was to praise Clark to a national audience that became enraptured by her playing style.
Caitlin Clark’s disrespectful gesture to Raven Johnson in 2023 came back to bite her
Staley: Grateful that Clark grew the game
In the latest example of “game recognizing game,” Staley took nearly 50 seconds out of her postgame speech to the Cleveland crowd to credit Clark for her huge role in growing women’s basketball and bringing it to greater national attention.
“I want to personally thank Caitlin Clark for lifting up our sport, she carried a heavy load, when she’s the number 1 pick in the WNBA draft she’s gonna lift that league up as well,” Staley said.
Clark‘s pursuit of the NCAA‘s all-time scoring record was followed around the country, and indeed drew eyeballs from around the world. The 22-year-old ended her collegiate career with 3,951 points and put Iowa women’s basketball on the map, delivering the program its first Final Four appearance since 1993 last year. Clark’s prodigious scoring and playmaking drew comparisons to NBA greats like Stephen Curry, and even LeBron James is a huge fan of the lead guard.
“Caitlin, if you’re out there, you are one of the GOATS,” Staley said to applause.
Clark’s response
When informed of Staley’s comments, Clark — still digesting the tough loss — responded graciously in a sign of mutual respect between arguably the two biggest names in women’s college basketball.
“Any time you can get (praise from Staley), it’s pretty special, so it means a lot,” Clark told reporters during her postgame press conference.
The paths for both women will diverge a bit from here — Clark is heading to the WNBA’s Indiana Fever to begin her pro career, while Staley is bringing back the vast majority of her South Carolina team in hopes of repeating as national champions in 2025. But the two women still share a common goal: continuing to grow women’s basketball into a major force in North American sports.
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