Kaitlyn Clark faces UConn in a battle between the leading scorer in women's college basketball and the leading team in the sport's history.
Obviously, if both parties had shown a little more interest, they could have joined together. Also, each seems to be pointing out that the other is not interested enough.
The possibility of Clark attending UConn came earlier this week A feature on ESPN's Wright Thompson Player, in which UConn was declared his “dream school.” Clark reportedly hoped to reach out to UConn, but never received a visit from legendary head coach Geno Auriemma.
Ultimately, his recruitment went to Iowa and Notre Dame, with UConn conspicuously absent throughout the process:
UConn's disinterest withered. “Honestly,” she said, “I wanted them to hire me to say I was hired. I loved UConn. I think they're the best place on earth, and I wanted to say I was hired by them. They called my AAU coach a few times, But they don't talk to my family, they don't talk to me.”
It seems curious that UConn wouldn't be interested in a point guard Rated by ESPN Class of 2020 No. He was a 4 player. Of course, it's important to remember that they already had the commitment of a point guard ranked as the No. 1 player in the 2020 class. .
Buekers committed to UConn in April 2019, while Clark committed to Iowa in November 2019.
Ace Auriamma I told CT Insider, they were happy to have the Beukers leading the backcourt. He also pointed out that if Clark was really interested in UConn, he should have reached out to him and expressed his interest:
“Well, there's a lot of kids that we don't recruit, and there's a lot of kids that don't want to go to UConn,” Auriemma said Tuesday. “I made a commitment to Paige Bookers very early on and told Paige, 'Hey listen, we're going to put you in the backcourt and then I'm going to try really hard to recruit Kaitlyn. Clark.' I don't do that.
“Caitlin is obviously an amazing player, a generational player. But if Kaitlin really wanted to come to UConn, she would have called me and said, 'Coach I want to come to UConn.' We took the decision we wanted.”
It's tempting to imagine UConn going on another glorious run with both Clark and Buekers, but that's wishful thinking. If Clark is splitting the ball-handling duties, it's hard to see him becoming the most attention-grabbing player in women's basketball, and his success at a non-powerhouse Iowa spot is an integral part of his legacy.
Still, it's even more brutal to remember that Clark and the Bukers were the same recruit in the top five, and the two Wood Award winners were joined by Angel Reese (a former NCAA Tournament MVP), Cameron Brink (another national champion and defending Naismith player). Player of the Year) and Camila Cardoso (the anchor of an undefeated team waiting on the other side of the bracket).
Getting just one of those five should be enough.
