Iowa HC Jan Jensen makes her feelings known on 'gatekeeping' of WNBA after Caitlin Clark’s arrival
Iowa coach Jan Jensen has opened up on the "gatekeeping" of the WNBA after Caitlin Clark's arrival. Clark was drafted with the top pick by the Indiana Fever and brought plenty of new eyes to the league.
However, the attention was not always welcomed by the WNBA ecosystem. Hawkeyes Headquarters reporter pointed out that Clark's popularity was celebrated in college, but not necessarily in the WNBA. When he posed this question to Jensen, the Iowa coach said:
"I think it's disappointing. Really, the evolution is... that's the process. And if you love what you do, whatever part of the process that you are, I believe that you want to enjoy it and you want to keep moving the needle.
"So I never quite understood that. Because it always takes something unique and special to kind of make folks double-take, right? Why is something popular in pop culture? Well, the right people like it, and then everybody starts to like it, and that's just how it works, right?"
Jensen was the assistant coach for the Hawkeyes during Clark's four years with the team. She also described Clark as a "generational talent."
"When you have a generational talent like a Caitlin, and she's doing everything that she possibly can and doing it with such flair, when that was met with 'Hold on, wait, no, you can't, or where were you then?' I just think it should have been such gratitude," Jensen said.
Caitlin Clark had a stellar spell at Iowa and finished her college career with 3,951 points, the most in the NCAA. She was also named the Big Ten Player of the Year in each of her final three seasons.
Caitlin Clark putting in extra effort in the offseason in preparation for second year in WNBA
Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White said Caitlin Clark is working hard in the offseason to improve her physical strength and overall efficiency on the court.
“She is stronger, first and foremost,” White told The Athletic this week. “She’s got a lot of self-awareness. She figured out right away that 'I need to get stronger, I can’t get knocked around as much'. She’s done a great job of getting in the weight room and focusing on her strength, in terms of low center of gravity, time under tension, all of those things.”
Clark was named the WNBA Rookie of the Year after a strong season with the Fever. She averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 8.4 assists and 1.3 steals across 40 regular season games.
Indiana made it to the postseason but was eliminated in the first round by the Connecticut Sun.