Clark: Decision to Come Back is...
- Thread starter hawkaeg80
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??? Why would a Minnesota girl want to play at Iowa, when she was the #1 recruit in the country and has been at UCONN for 4 years?
'Come back better': Peoria High basketball all-stater stoic about season-ending injury
Iowa women's basketball recruit Aaliyah Guyton of Peoria High is out for the season with a torn ACL. Here's what is next.
www.pjstar.com
You might be thinking of Journey Houston, whose injury we never rly learned the nature of.
Okay thanks. That sucks. I'm sure she would have been in the rotation next season, but most likely not now.'Come back better': Peoria High basketball all-stater stoic about season-ending injury
Iowa women's basketball recruit Aaliyah Guyton of Peoria High is out for the season with a torn ACL. Here's what is next.www.pjstar.com
You might be thinking of Journey Houston, whose injury we never rly learned the nature of.
Yeah she is unlikely to crack the line up now which is very disappointing. It also leaves the PG position very uncertain…I’ve left some thoughts on the lineups in the 2023-2024 thread as well as another thread about the Brooklyn event in the fall.
I saw those, and I agree KJ and possibly McCabe will get first crack at the PG, although Lisa may want Taylor to be her off the ball gunner, aka Gabbie Marshal. Still that would make us REALLY small in the backcourt as we're seeing way more 6" and over guards in the B1G now, Much like CC, and with players like JuJu coming in next year at 6'2". Brings up another area where we will REALLY miss CC. She averages 7 boards a game and I think is our leading defensive rebounder. Everyone knows the points and assists, but we'll have some big slack to pick up with CC, and Martins board work....
There is no decision to make, she will be back. Money, exposure, fame etc are all at the college level for her.
If Caitlin leaves (which I think she will) and a spot opens for the staff to find an experienced PG from the portal that is the direction they'll go. Otherwise Stremlow and McCabe will get the first look followed by Levin and Johnson. Right now McCabe has that role behind Clark/Davis and Johnson when in the game basically runs to the corner on offense. She's a nice player and good teammate but isn't likely to see meaningful minutes at Iowa as things stand now.
Regardless of whether Caitlin leaves there are no roster spots for a transfer. Someone else would need to leave. There are already 15 roster spots allocated for next year— Clark would be 16.
No one has explained how that will work, we’re all assuming there’s a way via SWARM and someone becoming a walk-on or something. I’m not convinced tho and I’m even less sure there’s a will or a means for someone else to come in.
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She will still have the majority of her deals in the W. She will also have a salary and (continue to have) free housing. Gatorade, Nike, etc aren’t going anywhere.
I think Bluder knows Caitlin is leaving and Bluder's rooting for her to stay is all for fun/show. Regardless, isn't it awkward Bluder rooting for Caitlin to stay is therefore rooting for one of her other players to transfer??
There’s almost no way a transfer would happen before Clark declares for the W. She has to declare I think 48 hours after her last game, whereas people can enter the transfer portal for weeks after.
After watching the everything last night, I don't think there is any way that Caitlin is staying. She has nothing else to prove and whether she wins a national championship or loses in the second round of the tournament will not taint her legacy in the least. If anything, staying one more year and piling on her records will do nothing but taint it.
Right now I think Caitlin transcends the game and everyone is ready for her to move to the next level and elevate the WNBA like what she did to college. We (sports fans) have not seen anything like her since Tiger Woods and is the most important athlete for women's sports now by far and one of the most of all time. She is Iowa and we can all be proud that she was a Hawk and what she did for the University, but, she is bigger than Iowa and that is no slight on Iowa.
Right now I think Caitlin transcends the game and everyone is ready for her to move to the next level and elevate the WNBA like what she did to college. We (sports fans) have not seen anything like her since Tiger Woods and is the most important athlete for women's sports now by far and one of the most of all time. She is Iowa and we can all be proud that she was a Hawk and what she did for the University, but, she is bigger than Iowa and that is no slight on Iowa.
REally, you dont think Caitlin will still be doing endorsement work for Nike, Hyvee and others while in the WNBA, oh yes State Farm, because of course, State Farm never works with pro athletes.
She will probably get $300K rookie contract maybe with incentives. So she can make a ton of money by leaving.
Caitlin can still make a lot of NIL type money while playing in the WNBA. She has enough name and likeness recognition to continue with her contracts with Hyvee, State Farm, and Nike of course with the shoes. She will have a chance to get endorsement deals around whatever city she plays in.
I think she goes too and probably should. But I don't think she will come remotely close to the stardom she has now at Iowa playing college ball. I don't think she will be followed in the wnba anywhere near as she is now, imo
It's been an unbelievable ride with cc and while more than likely we will never see anything like her again I still plan on following the hawk women. Even without cc the future looks bright 🌞
It's been an unbelievable ride with cc and while more than likely we will never see anything like her again I still plan on following the hawk women. Even without cc the future looks bright 🌞
Everything you say is true, except the amount of the contract. Way off.
With the endorsements, leaving is taking a bet on herself. The endorsements and value of them make sense when she’s the talk of the country selling out college stadiums and drawing large tv audiences playing in the NCAA.
In the WNBA, the crowds and tv audiences are much smaller than she’s used to. That means her value as an endorser could be greatly diminished.
But, if she thinks she could be the one to change that. The person to draw crowds and tv viewers to a product they largely haven’t cared about for almost 3 decades. If she can do that, the endorsement opportunities and value greatly expand. I think she’s going to bet on herself, and she may be right. Many sports analysts think so too. What remains to be seen is if she only helps her team or can help the league as a whole.
Bird and Magic laid the foundation for the modern NBA we have today. But Jordan came in and took over as must watch in person and on tv. While those guys greatly raised their teams up, they also greatly impacted the entire league too. Can she do for the WNBA what any of them did for the NBA?
In the WNBA, the crowds and tv audiences are much smaller than she’s used to. That means her value as an endorser could be greatly diminished.
But, if she thinks she could be the one to change that. The person to draw crowds and tv viewers to a product they largely haven’t cared about for almost 3 decades. If she can do that, the endorsement opportunities and value greatly expand. I think she’s going to bet on herself, and she may be right. Many sports analysts think so too. What remains to be seen is if she only helps her team or can help the league as a whole.
Bird and Magic laid the foundation for the modern NBA we have today. But Jordan came in and took over as must watch in person and on tv. While those guys greatly raised their teams up, they also greatly impacted the entire league too. Can she do for the WNBA what any of them did for the NBA?
What do you think Clark's WNBA contract amount per year will be? I was stunned to find out Brittany Griner is only making about $300 K a year which is why she went to Russia in the off season to make more money.
Couldn't she go non-scholarship with all those NIL perks she has and so open up a ship? Or how does the scholarship limit work?
Honestly I have tried quite a bit to find out how it works and I can’t find a definite explanation. Ive asked on here, twitter, and reddit for info on who can or can’t go off-scholarship. I’ve gotten nothing definite, just sentiments like “Bluder will find a way” “it’s been done before” or whatever.
The only halfway reputable source I could find is a website geared toward student athletes/parents that said if a kid has ever taken an official visit, they can’t become a walk-on. Taking an OV means you were “recruited” which precludes the nature of being a walk-on. There are other things about recruitment that preclude the possibility as well — like where and how communication with Bluder happened.
Now that’s not from the NCAA (I couldn’t find anything there, unbelievably — I assumed it’d be publicly accessible but apparently not) so it could definitely be wrong. But it’s the best I can find and it all makes sense. You’d think the NCAA wouldn’t want just anyone to be able to become a “walk-on” — or coaches would do it all the time to have extra players.
Multiple people here have said it’s been done before but everytime I’ve asked for an example or a link to refute the policy I mentioned, they go silent. I suppose it’s possible someone on the team didn’t take an OV, but as far as I can tell, Bluder doesn’t hesitate to hand those out. Even Callie Levin had an OV — and she only had to drive from Solon, and she was already signed. Someone mentioned they’ve seen men’s players do it but I’m not sure they were positive the recruiting situation was the same.
I’d really love to be wrong. Please, anyone, prove me wrong lol. Show me a mens player who took an OV who became a walk-on. Or show me a NCAA policy that says it’s possible. I’d even love it if anyone could prove (or even suspect) that any one of our team members next year could be a candidate to become a walk-on bc they never took an OV.
Again the transfer situation also poses problems. Some people think it’s as easy as Bluder forcing someone out of the program. Now, if you go thru my post history you’ll see I’m the first person to flatly say that Bluder would never in a million years do that to any of her kids. But even if she did, the timing just doesn’t work out for Clark. Clark has to declare within 48 hours of her last game, and “declare” means she foregoes any college eligibility she has left. The chances of someone entering the portal within 48 hours of their last game are slim to none, and Clark can’t undo that decision once she makes it.
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Someone started a new thread about this, if of interest:
Next Year's Womens Team
I see a lot of discussion about this topic on the recruiting thread so decided to start a new thread. The recruiting thread should be for recruiting news. I'll start by saying, I think Caitlin will not be back. Kate's her best friend and Gabby also, she'll move on to the WNBA since they are...
iowa.forums.rivals.com
Thanks for sharing! Do you know much about that kids recruiting background?
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