Caitlin Clark might have left Iowa, but Iowa hasn’t left her yet. While the Indiana Fever star is enjoying her offseason and focusing on her recovery, her former team racked up one of the most impressive wins of all time. Iowa crushed Evansville 119-43, which turned out to be the most points the program had in a game. That is 4 more than Iowa’s highest tally during Clark’s tenure, which also came against Evansville. The Iowa alum was quick to react to the win and send a comment to her former teammate. 

Iowa had six players who scored in double figures, led by freshman center Layla Hays with 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. Chazadi  Wright had 16 points and dished out 10 assists, while 4 others also scored in double figures. While the team was having their fun, Jada Gyamfi pitched in for only 5 minutes, in which she hit a three-pointer. She hit the three and broke out the Caitlin Clark special, both hands up and the tongue out. That made it to the team poster after the game, and Clark immediately acknowledged the celebration. 

“@jadagyamfi awesome celly brother,” Clark wrote under the Iowa Hawkeyes Women’s Basketball post. Gyamfi herself commented on her celebration writing, “Just an all-time flick.”  It’s now the iconic Caitlin Clark celebration, which she used to do almost always on every big shot. She has mixed things up in the WNBA, skipping the hands-up part of the celebration at times, and only sticking her tongue out.

As many of you might know, that celebration has roots with Michael Jordan. Clark often adds her flair to it. However, she has admitted to just going with the flow and not focusing too much on her celebrations. “Caitlin, you went from the Jordan shrug, and I looked at there’s a couple photos and videos of you after hitting threes, you started sticking your tongue out, like have you gone from the Jordan shrug to like the Jordan tongue out after a big shot?” One reporter asked Clark in May last year. 

To which the phenom replied, “Honestly, sometimes I don’t even know, you just get so excited once you hit a shot. I think the Jordan shrug is still the go-to, though.” Clark draws a lot of inspiration from Jordan, with her college coach, Lisa Bluder, drawing a page out of Jordan’s playbook. Even when it comes to her golf, Clark was spotted at Jordan’s invite-only Golf Club less than a week before the Annika Pro Am. While Clark continues her offseason activities, her former team in Iowa is currently succeeding in replicating her value so far. 

Jan Jensen Focusing On Recreating Caitlin Clark Era Creativity 

The Iowa Hawkeyes were at their highest with Caitlin Clark. They reached two National finals in a span of 4 years. Something like that was considered impossible for the Hawkeyes until Clark came along. She was the heart and soul of the team from that point guard position. Of course, there would be a lag when a player like Clark leaves the program. 

To add another blow, their long-time coach, Lisa Bluder, retired with her. With Jensen stepping up, the team is rebuilding from scratch. Jensen’s first year went hot and cold, but they finished with a decent 23-11 record and reached the NCAA tournament. Her second year is expected to be much better with a squad that can compete nationally. After the record win, Jensen emphasised how their assists impressed her rather than just the points. 

“As you know, you just set a record. You saw that warm-up. You’ve seen the teams that have played here. And you guys are now in that record book for most points ever. That’s pretty impressive. But the coolest thing about that, 31 assists. It was 31 on 42 buckets that we did that. That is my very favorite statistic,” Jensen told the team. 

Iowa was the best assisting team in the nation during Caitlin Clark’s final season at 20.8 assists per game. However, that dropped to 18.1 last year. Through the two games so far, they have 53 assists, with 6 people getting more than 2 each game. Chazadi Wright leads the team at 8.5 per game. Yes, it’s just two games, but an encouraging sign for a new side. These numbers, while against weaker teams, show that they are working as a team rather than as individuals. Jensen and Co. will look to continue on this path throughout the season.