Caitlin & Zach: Now Comes The Complicated Part

The Caitlin Clark numbers that the TV networks were focussed on in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Final on Sunday were not her statistics in the Iowa loss to South Carolina.  (For those counting such things they were under 32.5 Points (-110), Under 9.5 Assists (+100), Under 5.5 3PM (+105). )

No, the numbers the influencers were looking for were the TV rating she and her Iowa teammates chalked up in the 87-75 defeat to the Gamecocks. The Iowa vs LSU Elite Eight game became the “most-watched college basketball game ever on ESPN platforms” with 12.3 million viewers, That was followed by last Thursday’s semifinal win over UConn that smashed the previous record with a 14.2 rating. What would Sunday deliver? A stunning 18.2. better than every sport other than football and the Olympics.

For programmers who’ve searched for a star to sell women’a hoops to a broader market, Clark seems a Godsend. She scored more points this season (1,234) than Iowa football scored during her time as a Hawkeye (1,028). Leading to this from LeBron James: “@KingJames If you don’t rock with Caitlin Clark game you’re just a FLAT OUT HATER!!!!! Stay far away from them people!! PLEASE.”

But there was also the humble Caitlin Clark from the minutes after losing on Sunday:: "People will probably remember our two Final Fours and things like that. But people aren't gonna remember every single win or every single loss. I think they're just gonna remember the moments that they shared at one of our games. Or watching on TV. Or how excited their young daughter or son got about watching women's basketball. I think that's pretty cool. Those are the things that mean the most to me.”

The satirical site @TheBabylonBee cheekily summed it up. “Caitlin Clark Canonized As Saint After Performing Miracle Of Making Women's Basketball Watchable.” Indeed there are some who believe that it’s Clark, not the moon, causing the eclipse on Monday. 

But there is truth to the claim to Clark as a saviour. As we have written on multiple occasions, women’s sports has been in search of a marketable messiah to change it from ab ESPN liberal hype to mainstream. For too many in the audience— including women— the image of these sports has become too political. As the gender revolt took hold, fans were turned off by the strident lesbian soccer player  Megan Rapinoe and WNBA star Britney Griner who turned every game into a referendum on the latest #LGBTQ talking points.

There was a resistance to their defiance and the craven submission of corporate voices infatuated by DEI praise. To some, players on opposing hockey terms marrying each other was jarring. But Clark seems to be breaking the mold. The advertising world will beat a path to her door despite the second consecutive defeat in the Women’s Final. She’ll be honoured with woman athlete of the year and more. When she’s drafted into the WNBA there will be editorials suggesting the future has arrived. 

The most interesting reaction may come from the women already in the WNBA. The intrusion of a white, conservative, straight Christian woman in their midst won’t sit well in a league where women of that description have been made to feel unwelcome in many dressing rooms. She’ll need a tough hide to survive the resentment of other players who see themselves as the stars and Clark as a product of white privilege. 

Although his challenge is not quite as daunting as Clark’s, Canadian Zach Edey faces a similar challenge as he moves past Monday night’s mens’ final where he and his Purdue teammates were tripped by the mighty UConn Huskies. The 7-foot-4 product of Leaside High School in Toronto has won the NCAA mens player of the year in consecutive seasons as the Boilermakers’ top scorer and rebounder. 

Edey is the tallest player in NCAA history and combined with his stunning statistics you’d think the imposing product of a Chinese mother and a white father might be going Top 3 in the NBA draft in June. His ball handling and footwork are remarkable for a man that large. His defensive impact is off the charts.

Yet Edey is being talked down by the scouts who insist that his skill set will not fit in the modern run-n-gun NBA. Where once a presence like Edey in the low post would have been a huge asset, teams today want even their big men to shoot threes and perform away from the basket. The assets he possesses are seen as drawbacks causing him to fall into the second round of the draft— or further.

Edey will also face the cultural challenge of the NBA with its overbearing politics and racial emphasis. While there are many successful white stars from Europe, an Asian/ Canadian whose toughness is questioned will have a lonely existence till he proves himself against the LeBrons, Currys and Antetokounmpos. But, like Clark, he could use this summer’s Olympics as a springboard if Canada chooses him to wear the maple leaf in Paris.

They’ve been twinned in triumph at the collegiate level. Let’s see where they go next.

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster  A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada's top television sports broadcaster, he’s a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his new book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca.