CLEVELAND — Everybody needed to speak in regards to the sport, which was anticipated after the South Carolina ladies’s basketball staff held off Iowa for an 87-75 victory and second nationwide championship in three years. However Daybreak Staley additionally needed to speak in regards to the different sport. Truly, that’s not sturdy sufficient. She was going to debate it.
Basketball has performed such an necessary function in her life that she protects it as fiercely as a mom would a new child. Her love for it’s matched solely by her respect for it. So at the same time as questioners requested in regards to the Gamecocks turning into simply the tenth staff in NCAA Division I historical past to complete a season undefeated, going 38-0, Staley purposely turned the highlight again to the one who was central in serving to to make this a transformative season and inflection level within the sport’s evolution.
“I don’t need to not make the most of this chance to thank Caitlin (Clark) for what she’s performed for girls’s basketball,” she stated of the Iowa guard whose transcendent play helped drive report viewership numbers. “Her shoulders had been heavy and getting a whole lot of eyeballs on our sport. And typically as a teenager, it may be a bit a lot. However I assumed she dealt with it with class. I hope that each step of the ladder of success that she goes, she’s in a position to elevate no matter room she’s in.”
Minutes earlier, Staley had elevated herself to the higher rungs of a ladder in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. She snipped the ultimate polyester strands from the web and positioned it round her neck. Then she turned every approach and waved to followers.
As I later listened to her describe her emotions, Maya Angelou’s phrases got here to thoughts: “I’ve realized that folks will overlook what you stated, folks will overlook what you probably did, however folks will always remember the way you made them really feel.”
That summarizes the 2023-24 ladies’s basketball season for me. Years from now, I’ll seemingly overlook Clark’s profession factors complete, what number of video games South Carolina received, why Kim Mulkey all the time appeared so offended, and which gamers had been concerned within the shifting display screen on the finish of the UConn-Iowa nationwide semifinal. However I’ll always remember the sense of satisfaction derived from seeing the game come of age.
Dynasty?
🏆 @GamecockWBB pic.twitter.com/ij7ovmsJ1b
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) April 7, 2024
For many years, broadcast companions and the general public marginalized ladies’s basketball, ostensibly relegating it to the youngsters’ desk. The requires respect had been heard however ignored. However this season was completely different. The ladies now not requested for respect; they demanded it with the record-breaking viewership that stemmed from the genius of Clark, the high-level play of South Carolina, Iowa, UConn, LSU and others, and the storylines and grudge matches that set social media ablaze.
How far has the sport come? When the Closing 4 was held in Tacoma, Wash., in 1988 and ’89, the native newspaper didn’t ship any of its high sportswriters to cowl the occasion. It despatched a lowly neighborhood information reporter who had by no means staffed a significant sporting occasion. I do know as a result of that particular person was me.
I used to be surprised there wasn’t extra curiosity after experiencing the depth of Tennessee coach Pat Summitt’s piercing blue eyes, the playmaking of Lengthy Seashore State guard Penny Toler, the generalship of Stanford guard Jennifer Azzi, the consistency of Tennessee ahead Bridgette Gordon, and the promise of Louisiana Tech heart Venus Lacy. However traction is difficult to return by when broadcast rights are offered to a cable outlet that views you as an afterthought.
ESPN ought to be ashamed for that. The very fact is, it’s not deserving of what it now has — one of many hottest merchandise in sports activities. The ladies’s sport this yr attracted extra viewers than the NBA Finals, World Collection, faculty soccer playoffs — you title it. And whereas there is likely to be a drop-off with Clark leaving for the WNBA, the possibilities of a major decline appear distant at greatest.
The reason being the abundance of elite groups and playmaking younger stars, together with USC freshman JuJu Watkins, who ranked second within the nation in scoring; Notre Dame freshman Hannah Hildago, who was must-see TV; and South Carolina freshmen MiLaysia Fulwiley and Tessa Johnson, who simply performed distinguished roles in profitable the Gamecocks their third nationwide championship in franchise historical past. After which there’s senior guard Paige Bueckers, who led Connecticut to the Closing 4 and ought to be within the working for nationwide Participant of the 12 months subsequent season.
“I simply need our sport to develop. 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,” Staley stated. “I simply need our video games to develop, regardless of who it’s. As a result of there’s lots of people which might be on the market rising our sport, a whole lot of applications on the market rising our sport. We have to proceed to uplift them as nicely, as we take our sport to the following degree.”
GO DEEPER
Daybreak Staley created South Carolina’s good championship season out of final yr’s loss
There will probably be loads of time to debate the passing of the baton, so to talk. However Sunday was about recognizing those that, if not created this second, unquestionably constructed on the momentum created in current seasons. And Clark was on the entrance of the road.
Earlier than disappearing from the dais for the ultimate time as a school participant, she mirrored on the issues she is going to keep in mind and recognize most — her teammates, her coaches, and her assist inside and out of doors this system. And she or he may also take nice delight and satisfaction that she performed a component in making the ladies’s sport high of thoughts.
“After I take into consideration ladies’s basketball going ahead, clearly it’s simply going to proceed to develop, whether or not it’s on the WNBA degree, whether or not it’s on the faculty degree,” Clark stated. “Everyone sees it. Everyone is aware of. Everyone sees the viewership numbers. While you’re given a chance, ladies’s sports activities simply sort of thrives. I believe that’s been the best factor for me on this journey. We began our season taking part in in entrance of 55,000 folks in Kinnick Stadium, and now we’re ending it taking part in in (entrance of) most likely 15 million folks or extra on TV. It simply continues to get higher and higher. That’s by no means going to cease.”
(Picture of Daybreak Staley: Gregory Shamus / Getty Pictures)
