University of Iowa's Caitlin Clark has received a lot of praise for her accomplishments in basketball. Clark was named the 2024 Naismith National Player of the Year, broke the NCAA Tournament's all-time scoring records for men and women, and earned The Athletic's National Player of the Year title. .
With Clark's help, the NCAA women's basketball final between Iowa and South Carolina reached 18.9 million viewers, surpassing the men's tournament's peak audience of 14.82 million. Clark's contribution to increasing viewership for women's basketball brought new popularity and attention to the sport.
While Clark received national recognition, members of the Drake basketball program were able to experience and contribute to the growth of the sport first-hand. Appreciation for Iowa women's basketball continues through the local community as both the Bulldogs and Hawkeyes competed in March Her Madness this year.
Nicci Hayes Fort has been an assistant coach for the Drake women's basketball team since 2016. Hayes Herfort talked about the growth she has seen in women's basketball in recent years.
“It's cool to see that [for] those women and men [have coached] All of the hard work in women's basketball over the past 50 years has come to fruition,” Hayes-Fort said.
Hayes-Fort spoke about Clark's heartfelt impact on the sport of women's basketball, which she witnessed on Nov. 19 when the women's basketball team played against Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
“The doors were open an hour and a half before the game started. Hundreds of little girls and even a few little boys were surrounding the court, just wanting to take pictures with her and demanding her attention. I was hoping that maybe she would come and see me,” Hayes-Fort said.
Hayes-Fort spoke about Drake's influence on basketball players and expressed hope that the popularity of women's basketball, especially in Iowa, will highlight the talent of Drake's players.
“[Clark] has taken women’s basketball to new heights,” Hayes-Fort said. “That allowed Katie Dinebier, Anna Millers and Grace Bergs to grow up. They were able to rise up and get attention and notoriety.”
Junior guard Katie Dinebier grew up in Des Moines and played with Clark on the same amateur athletic union team in high school.
“The shot is [Clark] The way she played the game was unlike anything I had ever seen before,” Dinebier said. “Her work ethic, her dedication to the sport and seeing her promote the sport and lift other athletes up. It's incredible and speaks volumes about her character.”
Dineveer spoke about the various stereotypes surrounding men's and women's basketball and said Clark proves that women's basketball is on par with men's basketball in terms of difficulty and ability.
“[Clark’s] Her message was for girls to look up to themselves and think they can do anything. And that's true not just for her, but for all female athletes,” Dineveer said.
Dinneveer expressed excitement for her fourth year at Drake University, saying she wanted to experience her final year amidst the renewed attention surrounding women's basketball.
“I hope Caitlin Clark makes enough of an impact at Iowa that it spills over to other schools,” Dinevere said. “Being a Division I school in Iowa, we hope people will want to come out and watch our games because they’re fun.”
Alex Carr, member of gray squad, She talked about her experience working with the women's basketball team. Her role at Carr is to help the girls basketball team practice, during which she helps with running plays, drills and rebounding the ball.
“Once people know Iowa is playing tonight, they're going to watch the game,” Kerr said. “National news, every TV station and radio station is talking about women's basketball.”
Kerr believes the connection among members of Drake's team and dedication to the sport creates recognition from the community.
“I'm looking forward to seeing them continue to win. They won the conference. [twice] In the last two years,” Kerr said. “Now that women's basketball is becoming more popular, if… [Drake makes] They'll get even more attention if they make it to the NCAA Tournament again, and they deserve it. ”
With Clark recently selected as the WNBA's No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever, women's basketball continues to gain popularity at both the college and professional levels.
“I'm glad that female athletes, especially at the collegiate level, are finally getting the recognition they deserve. It's been a long time coming,” Dineveer said.