One of the traits that makes Geno Auriemma a great coach is his ability to speak without applying a filter. However, take his superpower away from the basketball court, and it can easily backfire. Case in point, his comment about Caitlin Clark’s freshman year at Iowa is drawing heavy pushback from the WNBA world, including a WNBA broadcaster.
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During an interview with Front Office Sports, Auriemma said that during her freshman year, Clark wasn’t big in anyone’s estimate.
“When Caitlin was a freshman, she didn’t capture anybody’s imagination,” he said. “And then all of a sudden, two years later, you have all these new fans, and she’s making shots from the logo. And Caitlin became their connection to women’s basketball. You know, that’s a tough thing for her to live through. And I think she’s managed it pretty well.”
Clark started her college career as a gifted star and a natural playmaker. While it is true that her fanbase exponentially increased in the next three years of college, Auriemma’s words seem to undermine what Clark was able to achieve as a freshman. WNBA broadcaster Robin Lundberg ridiculed Auriemma’s comments as “more amusing than anything.”
“Caitlin’s game started bubbling early. Like there was a sign of this earlier. Her first nine games were streamed on Big Ten Network Plus,” Lundberg said on her show. “They saw a 30% uptick in viewers…She became viral, and then she was setting Big 10 network ratings. Then, she started setting record ratings across the board, and again by her junior year, those numbers were getting really big. By her senior year, they were astronomical.”
Auriemma’s comments came months after he claimed that Bueckers had a better season than Clark in their freshman year.
“So, her freshman year is the same as Paige’s freshman year, right? They were both freshman, and Paige just dominated the entire game of college basketball. She won every award,” Auriemma said on the Sports Media with Richard Deitsch in July. “Unfortunately, it was in the bubble, and not a lot of people got to see it in person, but she won every single award, just like Sarah StronG did this year.
“If you would have said, ‘Hey, do you know who Caitlin Clark was?’ People would say, ‘No, I don’t. I know Paige Bueckers, and I know the kids of South Carolina and I know the guys at Notre Dame. You know I KNOW THOSE guys, but I don’t know Caitlin Clark.'”
For starters, Clark and Bueckers were co-winners of the 2021 WBCA NCAA Division I Freshman of the Year, so that invalidates Auriemma’s claim, something that Lundberg also mentioned. But there are other facts that the legendary UConn head coach might have forgotten. Clark was no ordinary freshman. She was a star from her freshman year.
In her freshman year, the Fever star led her team and the country in scoring total, assists per game, total field goals and total 3-pointers made. She averaged 26.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 47.2% from the field and 40.6% from the 3-point line. Clark totaled 799 points, 214 assists, 266 field goals, and 116 3-point shots.
Her freshman honors also included Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Big Ten All-Freshman Team and unanimous first-team All-Big Ten.
On the other hand, Bueckers averaged 20.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.3 steals per game. She shot 52.4% from the field and 46.4% from the 3-point line. Her UConn defeated Clark’s Iowa in the Sweet 16 round.
Years later, Clark and Bueckers won Rookie of the Year awards in the 2024 and 2025 seasons, respectively. They are both All-Stars and All-WNBA players.
However, Lundberg, who is also the author of Caitlin Clark: From the Logo, had a bigger question about Auriemma’s comments.
“But what does that have to do with the fact that she became that popular, and you know she brought that fan base along with her? Wherever it started, why does it matter?” he questioned.
In the last few years, women’s basketball has grown exponentially. From viewership and attendance to the league’s economy, everything has witnessed sharp upward growth, and it is hard to deny that Clark is the catalyst for that change.
However, denying other stars like Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese and others their place in the WNBA’s growth would also be a bad-faith claim. Clark is the biggest force there has ever been, but Bueckers, Reese and other stars make this growth sustainable.