Caitlin Clark’s effect is something that has turned a lot of heads in the basketball world. While not a lot of players have had influence on the game like her, a journalist has argued that a former head coach is in a bracket similar to the Indian Fever star.

Veteran newscaster Robin Roberts recently appeared on the Post Moves podcast, where she had a long discussion with Candace Parker and Aliyah Boston. While speaking about her upcoming film about veteran head coach Pat Summitt, Roberts remarked that the former Lady Vols head coach embodied the same influence and aura that Clark has in this era.

“Pat was a rockstar on the road. She could not go anywhere,” said Roberts on the Post Moves podcast. “In Knoxville, she was the mayor, the president, the governor,” said Roberts on the Post Moves podcast. “Much like we see with Caitlin [Clark] and how people would come to those games, that was Pat Summitt and the Tennessee Lady Vols when they would come to town. People who normally wouldn’t go to a game would come out to see Pat, to see the Lady Vols.”

There’s no doubt about Summitt’s impact on the women’s basketball community as a whole, especially in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she had a strong foothold. Having spent her entire collegiate career at Tennessee-Martin and then serving as the Lady Vols’ longest-tenured manager, Summitt made the Lady Vols program what it is today.

The way her team played and continuously dominated the national Championships stages for decades pulled fans and helped college basketball grow across the country. For instance, the Lady Vols’ game against Texas in 1987 at Thompson-Boling Arena attracted over 24,000, a staggering feat for women’s basketball at the time.

Meanwhile, CC is kind of following the script from the same book. Similar to Summitt, Clark has repeatedly demonstrated her ability to fill arenas on her own and draw large crowds to the sport. Be it her gamedays with the Indiana Fever or even a slight glimpse of her from the sidelines, the fans have been in awe of her aura near the hardwood.

But despite that, Clark knows that Summitt’s level was on a different scale altogether. In a press conference during her Iowa Hawkeyes days, Clark said she was awestruck as a kid when she watched the Summitt-led Lady Vols in what might have been their final assignment in 2012.

“I remember my dad took me when Des Moines hosted a regional site. I think it was Baylor versus Tennessee, and I think it was the last game Pat Summitt ever coached. To be able to say I got to see the last game Pat Summitt ever coached is so, so cool in my home state, in my home city,” Clark said.

To reach the level of Summit, Clark still has a long way to go. And, of course, she is on the right path and has many years ahead of her. And there’s no doubt in remarking that, similar to the legendary Tennessee coach, CC, too will inspire millions to pick up a basketball. While Roberts was quick to draw comparisons between Clark and Summitt, she hesitated to name the Indiana Fever guard as her favorite player from this era.

Robin Roberts Snubs Caitlin Clark for 3-Time WNBA Champion

In the current generation of players, there are very few to look beyond Caitlin Clark. In the two WNBA seasons she has played, CC has never seemed out of her element. A WNBA Rookie of the Year, a two-time All-Star, are some of the achievements that perfectly add weight to Clark’s consistent growth in the WNBA. While Robin Roberts noted Clark’s range of shooting was brilliant, she gave A’ja Wilson the vote as her favorite.

“A’ja, yeah A’ja, come on, ” Roberts said when asked about her favorite player by Candace Parker and Aliyah Boston in the podcast. “I mean, there’s just no one better right now. Just everything about her game. I give absolute respect to Caitlin Clark. I mean, the range from this woman is crazy, but A’ja is my, I’ll have to say, I am a bit of Liberty fan.”

Roberts’ assessment makes sense. After all, there are very few players in the modern era who are as decorated as Wilson. She is a 7-time WNBA All-Star, 4-time  WNBA MVP, and 2-time WNBA Finals MVP at 29.

While CC is yet to bag a team accolade with the Fever, she showed her ability on the big stage by winning the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup. Still only 24, she certainly has a lot of time left to bag accolades like Wilson.