A Bittersweet Goodbye: Caitlin Clark Bids Farewell to College Basketball with Contentment and Pride
CLEVELAND — Caitlin Clark knew it was over when there were just 41 seconds remaining and her team was ostensibly on defense.
Lisa Bluder, the coach of Iowa, was aware of this as well, which may explain why she initially became irritated that none of her players were making an effort to stop South Carolina, but eventually decided to overlook it.
With the last seconds of one of the greatest basketball collegiate careers winding down and South Carolina ahead 87-75 in the national championship game on Sunday, Clark looked out into space.
Bluder substituted out her iconic No. 22 for the last time twenty seconds later. “I am proud of you,” she said to her famous friend. And as she got ready to enter the Iowa locker room with the Hawkeyes for the final time, Clark gave hugs to everyone of her coaches and teammates, citing that as one of the more difficult moments of her Sunday.
“I’m so lucky,” Clark said after Iowa fell to the Gamecocks, finishing as the runner-up for the second consecutive season. “I’m so fortunate. That’s what I always remind myself.”
Caitlin Clark saying farewell to Iowa for the last time
( @CaitlinClark22/IG) pic.twitter.com/apbI5AOwBt
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Clark predicts that the emotions will surface during the next 48 hours. Tears will fall. She will have had enough time to contemplate the conclusion of her college career and the memories she will have with this squad from this run in the history of women’s basketball by then.
However, Clark appeared content on Sunday in the immediate wake of her last collegiate game before she unavoidably goes first in next week’s WNBA Draft. She gave the impression that she was happy with what she had contributed to Iowa and women’s basketball in general, even in the face of a seismic shift in the sport. Someone who is aware of her role in the game and the happiness she has brought to fans through her trademark threes and well executed passes throughout the years.
“I’ll be able to sleep every night even though I never won a national championship,” she said. “I never sit and sulk about things that didn’t happen.”
With a record 1,144 career assists and 3,951 career points in NCAA Division I, Clark departs Iowa. Being the most explosive player in the nation, she set too many records to count, won two Naismith Player of the Year titles, four first-team All-Big Ten selections, three Big Ten tournament championships, and two Final Four appearances. By August, Iowa had run out of season tickets. This season, the Hawkeyes have sold out every home game in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Parents and sons, as well as dads and daughters, flocked to the bleachers to witness the next generation of basketball players up close. The fortunate ones managed to get an autograph. From their living rooms, those at home witnessed the magnificence as Clark rose to prominence as a must-see television series.
Now that Clark is leaving Iowa without a championship, there will be many discussions in the near and far future about whether or not she is the greatest player in the history of her sport. For some, she needed a title to prove she was the greatest. For others, her exceptional brilliance will suffice.
On the other side of the wall, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley was celebrating winning her third national championship. Clark was making her way to her postgame news conference down Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse tunnel while holding a towel in her Iowa uniform.
The court was blanketed with Confetti, while DJ Khaled’s “All I Do is Win” was playing on the speakers. Hats and T-shirts commemorating the national title had been distributed.
When it was Staley’s turn to speak, though, she refused to focus solely on her squad, an unbeaten group that finished 38-0.
“I want to personally thank Caitlin Clark for lifting up our sport. She carried a heavy load for our sport,” Staley said. “Caitlin Clark, if you’re out there, you are one of the GOATs of our game, and we appreciate you.”
In the photo from the women’s NCAA national championship game, LeBron James seems pleased with what he has seen so far from Caitlin Clark’s game.u0AamhJjCw on Twitter
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Clark stated on Sunday that she believes the most memorable aspect of this event for her will be reflecting over the course of the next week or two. She looked through old photos on Saturday night, enjoying the nostalgia that comes with comparing her current situation to her one three years ago. She grinned, thinking of supporters the age of her grandmother who this year got really passionate about Iowa’s football team. She will continue to inspire young boys and girls for years to come.
It is her sincere hope that she “showed everyone how fun women’s basketball is” and “how fun women’s sports are.”
“She has increased our sport’s level of excitement. Without a doubt, remarked Bluder. “I genuinely believe that many people laughed at her when she announced as a freshman that they would be attending the Final Four. And, to be very honest, maybe even made fun of her for traveling to Iowa.
“But she believed, we believed and she got everybody else in that locker room to believe. And that is not an easy thing to do.”
The WNBA, which is ready and willing to welcome Clark as she advances in her career, is the next stop on Clark’s itinerary. The Las Vegas Aces have already shifted their July planned clash against the Indiana Fever to a larger arena, and the Fever have the first pick on April 15. Although an era is coming to an end, this is not the end for Clark.
She expressed her hope that one day her records would be surpassed as Clark concluded her press conference. Perhaps even in the near future.
Subsequently, she strolled back via the tunnel featuring the beige and gray carpet and passed through a pair of doors to finally remove her jersey.
“It was a special year,” she said. “Yeah, I’m sad we lost this game, but I’m also so proud of myself, I’m so proud of my teammates, I’m so proud of this program. There’s a lot to be proud of.
“I think for me I know what’s next is soon. But at the same time, I’m not blind to the fact that I need to enjoy this, I need to soak this in.”
(Photo: Jason Miller / Getty Images)