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Caitlin Clark, Iowa look to break the women's basketball attendance record on Sunday – NCAA.com
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Consider some of the unique things that have happened when indoor athletes take their balls or pucks outdoors.
The Gonzaga men beat Michigan State in a basketball game played on an aircraft carrier, with helicopters flying overhead before the tip.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings faced off in a hockey game in Michigan Stadium. The temperature was 17 degrees but 105,491 people showed up.
In August, the women’s volleyball teams for Nebraska and Omaha drew 92,003 in Memorial Stadium, where the football Cornhuskers have sold out every game since 1962. Nebraska won in straight sets, and then country music artist Scotty McCreery took the stage.
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So why not a preseason basketball scrimmage for the Iowa women and their megastar Caitlin Clark, in the same end zone where the football Hawkeyes just beat Purdue?
There they’ll be this Sunday, going against DePaul with more than 50,000 fans expected — “That’s my personal goal,” coach Lisa Bluder was saying — which would be the biggest crowd ever to watch women’s basketball, anywhere. Crossover at Kinnick they’re calling it, to benefit the Children’s Hospital, which is right next door to the stadium. Know that heart-warming tradition at Iowa football games, when the crowd turns and waves to the kids in the hospital? Now the women hoopers will be sending the place checks, and drawing a Big Ten Network television audience to boot.
It’ll be the only chance to see Clark, the most renowned women’s college player in the land, launch a 3-pointer from the 10-yard line. There’ll be packed parking lots and tailgating, everything normally associated with an Iowa football weekend, except touchdowns.
“Why wouldn’t we try to do this?” Bluder said.
“Obviously a super historic event that probably will only happen once,” Clark said. “I’ve been checking the weather, 30-day forecasts. Are those something you should trust? I don’t know, but it looks good.
“I’m super excited. It can’t come fast enough.”
The latest Iowa City forecast for Sunday is mostly cloudy, temperature in the mid-50s, and wind at 10-15 miles an hour. It’s the last part that might make things a little dicey for the Hawkeyes and Blue Demons. “I’m going to plan on shooting two air balls just because of the wind,” Clark said. When the San Diego breeze picked up across the USS Abraham Lincoln, Gonzaga and Michigan State combined to make only 64 percent of their free throws.
“So much for closed-door scrimmages,” said DePaul coach Doug Bruno, who has been on the job 38 seasons but has never seen a game quite like this one.
Clark watched Nebraska-Omaha volleyball on TV and was in awe of the crowd. Also, that McCreery performed afterward. She texted Bluder: Iowa had to get a performer for the Crossover at Kinnick.
“Breaking news, we haven’t,” Clark said the other day. Her dream performer for the occasion? “Taylor Swift. I don’t think that’s on her bucket list right now.”
Oh, well. For the Iowa women, this fits the season motif. Gobs of attention, expectations in the stratosphere and an extraordinary talent to get noticed. Clark became college player of the universe last season as the Hawkeyes stormed to the national championship game, upending No. 1 South Carolina along the way. A hit at the box office, Iowa averaged more than 11,000 fans a home game. Clark has been seemingly spotted in every time zone accepting this award or that one.
“We start this season with every single game sold out in Carver-Hawkeye Arena,” Bluder said. “We start this season with about 50,000 people joining us in Kinnick for the Crossover… we start this season without 40 percent of our starting lineup, but we also start this season with the nation’s best player in Caitlin Clark.”
Iowa City seems the spot for coaching longevity. This is Bluder’s 24th season, Fran McCaffery is third in Big Ten men’s basketball for tenure and Kirk Ferentz, with 25 years, has been in one place longer than any other FBS football coach. Now Bluder will spend a day where Ferentz does his work, the first chapter in an Iowa women’s basketball season with very bright lights, and promises to keep.
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“I’ve stole this quote from Billie Jean King,” Bluder said. “Pressure is a privilege. I think we have to remember that we’re in this situation of facing pressure because we’ve done well. Let’s enjoy that. Let’s rejoice about that.”
And let’s pass the ball a lot to Caitlin Clark.
“Caitlin who?” Bluder said.
Yep, a coach can joke when her top returnee was second in the nation in scoring last season, first in assists and 3-pointers, had five triple-doubles and put 31 points on South Carolina at the Final Four.
“I think there would be a possibility of having turmoil in your locker room with a superstar,” Bluder said. “I think the players all respect her so much because they see her. She’s working hard. They see she’s the first one in the gym, the last one to leave. She’s putting in her time. They understand that she can do some special things.
“I think that eliminates the jealousy because she is a good teammate. But we talk about it, yeah Caitlin has a little bit more attention but when her light shines, it shines on everybody in that locker room, so let’s all enjoy it.”
For her part, Clark is hoping to maintain the surge of interest in women’s basketball the Iowa-LSU clash with all its trimmings seemed to ignite last April. “I hope to continue to show people this is something you should continue to watch. And not only watch Iowa women’s basketball, there’s tremendous basketball all across the country. It’s been that way for a while, I’m glad they’re just catching on. I hope they stay.”
While Clark gives Iowa instant credibility, it should be noted Angel Reese and national champion LSU are still out there, while Connecticut is healthy. Few will be predicting a Hawkeyes title. But lots of eyes will be on her virtually every dribble, and her team.
“At the end of the day, you understand this is special. Don’t be afraid of it, don’t run away from it,” Clark said. “Just enjoy it and soak it in, because no other Iowa women’s team in history had an opportunity to be in an environment like this.
“You can’t expect it to be similar to last year. You don’t want it to be. You want it to be different. You want it to be different for this group. Every journey is different.”
The new journey begins Sunday. Outside, and without Taylor Swift.
Mike Lopresti is a member of the US Basketball Writers Hall of Fame, Ball State journalism Hall of Fame and Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame. He has covered college basketball for 43 years, including 39 Final Fours. He is so old he covered Bob Knight when he had dark hair and basketball shorts were actually short.
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