As a little girl who craved the adrenaline that competition provided, I tried it all.
Gymnastics, martial arts, softball, basketball, swimming, even pickleball.
And as a young woman who found true love in lacing up a pair of fresh Nike basketball shoes and bouncing a beautiful burnt orange ball on the basketball court, I have clung on to college athletes that shared the same desire, specifically WNBA players and NCAA Women’s Basketball players.
I’ve watched them all.
The impactful career and footprint now WNBA Champion Kelsey Plum left on UW, two-time WNBA Finals MVP Breanna Stewart paved her own path from UCONN to the Seattle Storm and now the New York Liberty, and even watch the first female college athletes receive their first NIL deals.
Yet nothing has quite compared to watching the dynamic coach and player duo of Coach Lisa Bluder and Caitlin Clark of Iowa Womens Basketball. The remarkable career these two have put together over the last four years is something that is astonishing to have witnessed. If you were one of the millions of people across the globe who paid close attention to not this duo, you know as well as I do that it was truly a treat to watch.
But all great eras must come to an end. Clark declared for the WNBA draft roughly halfway through her senior year, forgoing her fifth year of eligibility and shortly after the NCAA WBB Championship game, she was selected the Number one overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. Not long after, Coach Bluder announced her retirement and handed over the head coaching position to assistant coach Jen Jensen.
As a witness to this historic run Clark and Coach Bluder had, it leaves me with questions.
Will women’s college basketball ever have this type of high again?
Will the same type of viewership ever be the same?
Will a legacy of this type ever happen again?
What does the future hold for women’s basketball?
Watching an era, especially this one that had such an incredible impact on people all around the globe, it’s scary to watch it come to an end.
But I am also witnessing a blossoming WNBA environment. Clark, along with other start rookies, have caused a huge surge in ticket sales and in viewership.
Being both the little girl who didn’t understand others saying, “the WNBA isn’t real basketball” and the young adult I am today watching people of all ages and genders get involved with women’s basketball is the most heartwarming feeling in the world. It also gives me hope as I leave behind the Lady Viks basketball team here at PHS. I hope the coaches continue to bring a positive environment to practices and games, that this year there will be more and more students showing up. I also have higher hopes now heading into the start of my college career, that as a young team will be able to bring in local fans and sponsors.
I may not have all the answers to my questions about the future of NCAA Womens basketball, but I do have hope. I have hope that little girls who have “ooed” and “awed” at this era will spread the word to their friends. I have hope that more and more opportunities will present themselves to female athletes around the world, opportunities that can lead to legacies like that of Clark and Bluder. I also know that I am not the only one that hold this same hope within them, I am not the only one willing to spew facts about women’s basketball players to anyone and I know that I am not the only one doing everything in their power to support not just Clark, but all female athletes.
