“Caitlin (Clark) Was a Unicorn”: Eclipsing Dawn Staley and Geno Auriemma, WNBA ROTY Ignites Bold NCAA Debate
“Caitlin (Clark) Was a Unicorn”: Eclipsing Dawn Staley and Geno Auriemma, WNBA ROTY Ignites Bold NCAA Debate
“Women’s basketball for so long has been about the great coaches and not necessarily the great individual players,” says Tiki Barber, NFL star. The former New York Giants running back’s statement comes at a time when the sport is going through a major change, with new viewership records set this season, largely thanks to one name – Caitlin Clark. But has the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year left veteran coaches Dawn Staley and Geno Auriemma in the dust?
In the latest episode of ESPN’s The Sports Reporters, Barber discusses the Caitlin Clark Effect with Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo, John Fanta, and Jeremy Schaap. Barber points out, “Prior to Caitlin Clark, I was all in on the coaches. It was the coaches who I cared more about. One, Dawn Staley, just because she’s a UVA grad down at South Carolina. And as John was saying earlier, Geno Auriemma.”
He then gives the example of his wife, who “loved basketball growing up and she wanted to go to Connecticut when she was a player.” Although “she didn’t play in college,” the opinion had been made – “Geno was the man.” The UConn head coach has 11 titles to his name to date, and although the Huskies might be facing a drought right now, 2024-25 could well be the season a championship comes back to Storrs.
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Similarly, Staley has won three championships in her time with South Carolina, the most recent one coming last season. Interestingly, the Gamecocks defeated Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes. And yet, it was No. 22’s name on everyone’s lips. “So to me, Caitlin was the anomaly. Because women’s basketball for so long has been about the great coaches and not necessarily the great individual players. Caitlin was a unicorn in that regard,” as Barber says.
The ‘unicorn’ has broken records left and right in the WNBA this year, continuing the tradition from her NCAA days where she broke a whopping 46+ records. And while Auriemma and Staley’s reputation is set as decorated coaches, the tale of Caitlin Clark is still being written. However, there is one thing that CC and Staley disagree on when it comes to legacy.
Dawn Staley had hoped Caitlin Clark wouldn’t win a championship with Iowa
It’s the most obvious accomplishment anyone looks for in an athlete’s career – did they ever win a championship? For some, like Dawn Staley, an NCAA championship is the crowning glory of a successful college career, something that Caitlin Clark never had. Twice the runner-up in the Finals, the Hawkeyes never cut Finals ropes down.
“You’ve got to win a championship. That’s me personally. I had a great career. But it’s always, did you win a championship?” Staley told ESPN in April. “If Caitlin wins the championship, she’s pretty damn good, yeah, like, she’s a GOAT. I mean, she’s really damn good regardless. But winning the championship would seal the deal. I hope to the dear Lord she doesn’t.”
And she didn’t. Staley’s Gamecocks ended their season undefeated, with a championship to boot. But Clark had also made it clear, “I’ve played basketball at this university for four years, and for it to come down to two games and that be whether or not I’m proud of myself and proud of the way I’ve carried myself and proud of the way I’ve impacted people in their lives, I don’t think that’s a fair assessment.”
However, Staley too, with the NCAA Championship trophy in her hand, confessed that Caitlin Clark indeed is one of the greatest to ever grace the floor of collegiate basketball.
Indeed, the Iowa sensation’s legacy has largely been about what she wants it to be – impacting the game of basketball as a whole. Not counting the number of games she’s played and won but how many people she’s inspired to play the game in the first place. While Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley will always be the cornerstones of women’s college basketball, Caitlin Clark has certainly ushered in a new era with more attention than ever on the players
