Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is arguably the biggest star in all of college basketball at the moment, and she has captivated the nation with her sharpshooting, particularly from long range.
Perhaps Clark’s trademark move is the deep three from the logo, which she hits with relative frequency. However, just because Clark is capable of making such shots doesn’t mean that she’d be allowed to do it everywhere.
On an ESPN panel during the Final Four on Friday night, Diana Taurasi — who played at UConn from 2000-04 — said that Clark wouldn’t have been permitted to do that under coach Geno Auriemma.
“Hell no,” Taurasi said. “He didn’t even let us dribble. We were playing triangle, pass, screen away, pinch post. No chance you’re doing that with coach Auriemma. That’s just not the way he teaches basketball.”
“I bet we came off five pick-and-rolls our whole career,” added Sue Bird, who also played for Auriemma at UConn from 1998-02.
Auriemma is certainly an old-school coach. He’s led the Huskies since 1985, but there’s no denying his success with his career 1,213-161 record and record 11 national titles.
Regardless, it seems Iowa coach Lisa Bluder is deserving of some credit for allowing Clark to play how she wants to, as that apparently wouldn’t be the case everywhere.
