(Photo: David Butler II / USA Today)
Forget Iowa. It’s Bueckers vs. Clark!
The Story: The No. 1 seed UConn women will play No. 5 seed Iowa in the Sweet 16 tomorrow at 1 p.m., but all anyone is talking about is Paige Bueckers facing off against Caitlin Clark in a battle of dominant freshmen — and we are totally here for it.
WHO IS CAITLIN CLARK? Exactly.
NO, REALLY: OK, we’ll bite. Clark is a 6-foot freshman point guard who has been lighting up the game far away from the spotlights of Storrs. The Big Ten Freshman of the Year and a second-team All-American (advantage: Bueckers, a first-teamer), Clark actually led the nation in scoring during the regular season, averaging 27.7 points per game while shooting 48.7 percent. Her range is practically unlimited, and she singlehandedly outscored Kentucky in the first half of their second-round NCAA Tournament game on Tuesday, scoring 24 of her 35 points before the break. Even Kevin Durant took notice as he wrote on Instagram, “She belongs in the league right now.”
BUT IT’S A TEAM SPORT! Bueckers said after UConn beat Syracuse on Tuesday that it’s not about her versus Clark but rather the Huskies versus the Hawkeyes. She … has a point, but we finally have a level of intrigue that has been missing for much of the season and we desperately need it. (That’s not to mention the sideshow that appears anytime Bueckers or Clark is mentioned on Twitter.) And we’re not the only ones who can’t wait to see what happens: ESPN is putting the game on ABC, which is kind of a big deal. UConn has played games on Fox and ABC this season. The star power of Bueckers certainly helps.
DO THEY KNOW EACH OTHER? Of course. The world of elite youth basketball is very tight-knit, especially for two players with Midwestern roots. Bueckers and Clark have not only played against each other since middle school, they played together on USA Basketball’s Under-16 team in 2016 and Under-19 team in 2019. Bueckers has called Clark a friend, and while we have no reason to doubt her, we’ll see what Clark thinks of her tomorrow evening.
WHAT DID GENO SAY? “It’s been a while since you have had two kids that have had this kind of an impact, both on their teams and on the game itself nationally. To have one is … kind of cool, but to have two and to be so alike in so many ways, and yet now they’re going to be, unfortunately, they’re going to be put in a situation where it’s like a big football game where they say it’s [Tom] Brady versus Aaron Rodgers, and it couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s two really, really young kids, really good players who do a lot for their teams, but like it always is in these games, they’re just a part of it, and I think they would tell you, ‘Hey, we appreciate the attention, but I think it’s better if it’s left to Iowa versus UConn.”
SCOUTING REPORT: In addition to Clark’s obscene range — seriously, she can reliably knock down shots from 25 feet — she’s a facilitator who has no problem deferring to her teammates when needed. (Sound familiar?) Clark averages 7.4 assists and 5.9 rebounds in addition to her scoring, and she’s very good at drawing contact and getting to the free-throw line, where she has made 86 percent of her 164 attempts. Basically, UConn just needs to make sure she doesn’t get the ball in the first place.
AS FOR THE SUPPORTING CAST: Iowa can’t match up with UConn across the board, but it does have a capable sidekick to Clark in Monika Czinano, a 6-foot-3 junior forward. Czinano is a talented post player who is averaging 19.5 points and 5.9 rebounds a game, and she has scored more than 20 points 11 times this season, including in five of her last six games. It’ll be a battle inside, too. Sophomore guards McKenna Warnock and Gabbie Marshall are also valuable contributors for the Hawkeyes.
WHAT’S AT STAKE? The winner will face No. 2 seed Baylor or (significantly less likely) No. 6 seed Michigan in the Elite Eight. But really, it’s bragging rights. Since Iowa and UConn don’t figure to meet much in the coming years, either Bueckers or Clark can lay claim to being the best budding superstar the world has ever seen — even though deep down, we already know who it is.
Goodbye, Josh: Carlton Decides to Transfer
The Story: Josh Carlton, as expected, said goodbye to UConn yesterday as the college basketball transfer season begins to heat up.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Carlton was the American Athletic Conference’s most improved player as a sophomore when he averaged averaging 9.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, but that was the apex of his time at UConn. After a disappointing junior season, he lost his starting role to freshman Adama Sanogo. Carlton played as a reserve and is set to graduate from UConn this spring. He is going to take advantage of the extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19 and he can play a fifth year at a school of his choosing. He will be immediately eligible as a grad transfer. Carlton played hard and was better than most thought he would be at UConn. He averaged 3.5 points and 3.7 rebounds per game this season.
WHAT ABOUT POLLEY OR WHALEY? We have yet to hear from two mainstays of Dan Hurley‘s rotation in Tyler Polley and Isaiah Whaley. We are mixed on the chances of each coming back for next season. For Polley, the Huskies need shooting and he’s a shooter. Where else can he make the impact that he craves if he’s not playing one more year on a team that needs shooters? Does he even want to continue playing college basketball? Whaley? We would love the Big East Co-Defensive Player of the Year to return. Should he? That’s a different story. We think Whaley should try to take a shot at pro basketball. He is a good defender and proven rebounder and he won’t know where he stands until he gets into workouts. He could find himself in an NBA camp this summer and maybe the G League next year if he excels. Europe and maybe Australia are also worth considering. If Grant Williams of the Celtics can play in the NBA, Whaley can.
WAHAB OUT AT GEORGETOWN: This is the UConn Daily. We get it. But it’s a shock to the Big East as Qudus Wahab is leaving Georgetown. A week ago, Wahab was leading the Hoyas to the Big East tournament title and an NCAA Tournament berth and Patrick Ewing was speaking about him as the best big man in the country next year. Now? Wahab is on the market with plenty of eligibility left and will be a prime target. Should UConn make a call? If they could, yes, but the Big East has a policy that intraconference transfers are not allowed.
TRANSFER MANIA: Where is Hurley looking to find players? The NCAA started something several years ago called the transfer portal and that has taken the mystery out of where players are going. The rules of the portal are simple. When a player tells his coach of his intention to transfer, that school has up to two days to put his name in the transfer portal. From there, any coach is allowed to contact and recruit a player. That takes a lot of the difficulty out of transferring. Now, coaches can use it as a waiver wire and look to add players and reach out. The transfer portal isn’t public, but that hasn’t stopped anyone from leaking the names. Here’s the current transfer portal.
Morning Reads
WESTBROOK GOING PRO? Even though Evina Westbrook hasn’t shared her WNBA Draft plans, she’s gaining traction as a top draft prospect. (ESPN)
SAFE AT HOME: After christening Elliot Ballpark with a skid-snapping win on Tuesday, the baseball team will host two games of a three-game set with Rhode Island beginning this afternoon. (UConnHuskies.com)
LYNCH AT THE DOUBLE: Isabelle Lynch scored two goals as the women’s soccer team improved to 6-2-1 with a 3-0 win over Villanova yesterday afternoon. (UConnHuskies.com)
SHINING STAR: At 6-2, the women’s lacrosse team is playing with confidence, and much of that comes down to the play of senior Sydney Watson, who is averaging 3.75 goals per game. (Inside Lacrosse Magazine)
BACK TO WORK: The women’s volleyball team will be back on the court for the first time in nearly two weeks when it hosts Seton Hall in a back-to-back set tonight and tomorrow. (UConnHuskies.com)
IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREEN: Even though Kemba Walker has struggled this season, he’s still the key to turning around the Celtics’ fortunes. (FiveThirtyEight)
