Watch: Paige Bueckers, JuJu Watkins & Jan Jensen reflect on Caitlin Clark's impact on women's basketball ahead of Iowa vs Drake clash

Modified Nov 18, 2024 00:08 GMT

Caitlin Clark's college run with the Iowa Hawkeyes was historic for many reasons. She took an unknown program to be one of the strongest in the NCAA while breaking records and drawing more and more attention whenever she set foot on the court.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft received praise ahead of the Hawkeyes' duel against Drake on Sunday. "Fox College Hoops" shared a video on X that included comments from Clark's former opponents, Paige Bueckers, JuJu Watkins and former coach Jan Jensen.

"Caitlin brought so much new attention to the rise of women's college basketball and the WNBA and women's sports in general," Bueckers said. "I feel like the weight of the world is on her shoulder and she just has this heavy burden to carry and she does it with grace and humility."

"Great player, good person as well. She's been great, I'm really excited for her at this next stage of her career," Watkins said.

Jensen noted that Caitlin Clark never shied away from the spotlight and showed her confidence every time she stepped on the court.

"She broke stereotypes. She played with flair. She played with the confidence, the swagger that I think few have played with," Jensen said. "I think that all of us, fanbase included, were just so thankful that we were part of that ride."

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Caitlin Clark reunited with former coach on Sunday ahead of Drake matchup

Ahead of Sunday's matchup against the Drake Bulldogs, Caitlin Clark made the trip to Knapp Center to support her beloved Hawkeyes. Before that game, Clark reunited with Lisa Bluder, her college coach, and posed with the legend for a photo.

"A couple of Hawkeye legends 🫶," Iowa Women's Basketball captioned the post on Instagram.

It seems like the Fever star and Bluder's presence brought luck to Iowa, as they cruised to an 86-73 win over Drake to improve to 4-0 in the young NCAA season.

Senior Addison O'Grady led the way for the Hawkeyes with a career-high 27 points and 10 rebounds, which also allowed her to get her second career double-double. Besides O'Grady, Lucy Olsen added 18 points, and Hannah Stuelke contributed 16. Freshman Teagan Mallegni was the fourth and final Iowa player to score in double digits.

The Hawkeyes have an intriguing project, and Jan Jensen is off to a good start with the post-Clark generation of players.