The epic moment has come and gone in women’s college basketball and before anyone thinks about what happens next, best to savor what was just witnessed,
South Carolina is securely in the history books with one of the most stunning reloading jobs ever seen. The Gamecocks go 36-1, lose all five starters, then return with a flawless 38-0 run and national championship, the final bow on the package an 87-75 win over Iowa Sunday. The South Carolina Unstoppables. One must stand back to look at all the numbers and fully appreciate the dominance of Dawn Staley’s program.
This for instance: A 109-3 record the past three seasons with the defeats by one, two and four points.
Or this: Three national championships in the past seven tournaments. “Obviously,” said Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “Dawn Staley is the leader of women’s basketball right now.”
Or this: An astonishing display of depth that no one could withstand. The difference in bench points in the NCAA tournament for South Carolina was 222-36. Sunday against Iowa it was 37-0. “They could start on any team in this country,” guard Te-Hina Paopao said of the Gamecocks’ second wave. “But they decided to sacrifice that and play for this team and win a national championship, which we did today.”
HOW IT HAPPENED: South Carolina defeats Iowa 87-75 to win national championship
Meanwhile, Caitlin Clark is headed for the WNBA draft, leaving behind broken attendance marks and shattered TV ratings records. Also, very different horizons for women’s basketball. Her final record haul: 3,951 career points after 30 on Sunday. A gazillion autographed pictures and posters and shirts out there in the 12-year-old bedrooms of America. And, alas, two national runner-up finishes. “I think the biggest thing is it's really hard to win these things. I think I probably know that better than most people by now.” she said Sunday. “To be so close twice, it definitely hurts.
“For me, just the emotions will probably hit me over the next couple days. I don't have much time to sit around and sulk and be upset. I don't think that's what I'm about either.”
That the two could meet — South Carolina’s greatness, Caitlin Clark’s aura — on such a stage was like putting a square mile of Las Vegas light on the entire sport. “I hope that everybody gets exactly what they want out of it,” Staley had said the day before. “And I just hope the viewers, the people in attendance will take tomorrow's moment and carry it to the rest of the history of our sport. Hopefully we can keep the eyeballs and demand where it needs to be.”
THE AFTERMATH: What Caitlin Clark said after her last game at Iowa
So there should be some reflection on what both sides of the championship moment have done for their game. No trophies for that Sunday but the importance of their feats is beyond question.
Dynasty is an easy word to overuse but South Carolina is close. Staley has built this victory machine on work and grit and pride and purpose. The hard labor of such unglamorous necessities as defense. The Gamecocks rarely dazzle with individual point totals, but the scoreboard nearly always, always, always tilts their way. It hasn’t always been pretty and hasn’t always been without waves, but to accomplish what she did with almost an entirely reworked roster was stunning. The Gamecocks team did not win a national championship Sunday. the Gamecocks program did.
HISTORY: The 10 undefeated women's basketball national champions
“I'm forever indebted to basketball, so I'm always going to take care of it,” she said afterward. “I'm always going to make sure that our players are respectful. I'm always going to make sure that they know the history of our game. I want to make sure they are always respectful to our opponents. And when you do it that way, in return, you have success. You have success in the wins column and very little disappointment in the loss column.
“I don't think that's talked about enough, what we've been able to do, and I don't know why. And I really don't care why. We're going to keep doing what we're doing the right way, whether we are the popular or unpopular successful programs in the country. We're going to keep doing it that way.”
Clark has been the face of the game’s explosion. Most marketers would die to reach a young audience with such adoration. All Clark had to do was smile, work the crowd and loft a few more 3-pointers. “I genuinely believe every time that Caitlin breaks a record or comes off a game, there are thousands of boys and girls out shooting and wanting to be 22. Thousands.” Bluder said. “I mean, she has inspired that next generation of kids. There's absolutely no doubt.”
In a way, South Carolina had to sacrifice a little heartache for the cause. It was Clark’s 41-point masterpiece to knock out the Gamecocks in the 2023 Final Four that was in many ways, a trumpet call for the enormous popularity to come. Clark took it from there and let her remarkable game and appealing personality turn her legacy into a tsunami. Meanwhile, the Gamecocks lived with the hurt of defeat, rebooted and came back for vengeance — against anyone in their way, but especially the Iowa Hawkeyes.
“It was a revenge tour,” South Carolina guard Raven Johnson said. “And there's no better way than to play them in the championship and beat them.” Johnson’s defense on Clark was no small factor. Clark went for 30 but it took 10-for-28 shooting to do it. “We knew she was going to get her points. We wanted her to get her points in an inefficient way,” Staley said. “I look at the stat sheet, it's beautiful. If she's shooting 50 percent, we lose the basketball game.”
So that was that. Which begs a question.
What now?
Clark is gone from college basketball, all mail forwarded to care of the Indiana Fever. “Can she still change her mind? Is that possible?” Bluder said this week. She was joking. Probably.
So who fills the void on a Clark-less landscape? There is no shortage of compelling players from Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers to USC’s JuJu Watkins. Lots of good teams, too, starting with the defending champions, who lose with only slightly more frequency than a total solar eclipses. "I just say be on the lookout," Johnson said about next season's Gamecocks. But the Clark effect was something unique, and while it was easy to see its power this season, it might well be even plainer when she is no longer lofting shots from logos.
Men’s college basketball faced this post-Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. That was 1979 and their game electrified college basketball. But really, the next big thing was 1985 when the tournament expanded to 64 teams and the little guys were allowed in the door with mighty upsets on their minds. That’s when March Madness truly began.
Still, women’s college basketball seems way too strong now for any retreat. What will be interesting next season is to see how many of those attendance figures and TV ratings were Caitlin Clark fans or women’s basketball fans. Or, as many believe, did one lead to the other?
Might as well ask the departing Hawkeye herself.
CAITLIN CLARK TRACKER: Follow the Iowa star's biggest games and highlights in the 2023-24 season
“When I think about women's basketball going forward, obviously it's just going to continue to grow, whether it's at the WNBA level, whether it's at the college level,” Clark said. “Everybody knows. Everybody sees the viewership numbers. When you're given an opportunity, women's sports just kind of thrives. I think that's been the coolest thing for me on this journey, we started our season playing in front of 55,000 people in Kinnick Stadium. And now we're ending it playing in probably 15 million people or more on TV. It just continues to get better and better and better. That's never going to stop.”
Nor, likely, is South Carolina’s march under Staley, which has also been a factor in this hyper growth.
“Do I think South Carolina is a part of it? Yeah, we're a part of it,” Staley said. “I don't know what part, but when Caitlin plays in a game, you see the numbers. They're real numbers, and a lot of people like to deal in those real numbers. I hope we were able to attract some more people by the amount of eyeballs that probably watched our game just because Caitlin was appearing in it.
“What does it mean to me? I just want our game to grow. I don't care if it's us. I don't care if it's Caitlin. I don't care if it's JuJu or Hannah (Hidalgo of Notre Dame). I just want our game to grow, no matter who it is."
But that’s for next season. Sunday was to hail South Carolina and say farewell to Caitlin Clark. It’s been a blast.
