Had UConn offered Caitlin Clark...

[Kinnick.At.Night]

I was thinking about this last night. If Geno had offered CC, she'd have certainly committed. It was her dream to play there. What would the results have been for Iowa the last five years had that occurred? Bluder would have had good teams. NCAA tourney teams, each year more than likely. But...no home sellouts. No national buzz. Certainly no BIG titles or Final Fours. And not nearly as many big name commitments on the recruiting trail. I think it's fair to say all of this. It's wild how much of a difference one decision made for our women's program. I wonder how much thought Geno gave to offering CC?

 

[bunsen82]

The issue is they got Paige. Not going to play the what if game.

 

[Hawksbyamillion]

Women’s basketball would not be on the trajectory that it is had Caitlin gone anywhere else.

 

[Scott559]

Good chance Clark would have won natty at UCONN, Better chance Geno puts harness on C.C. and Clark mania never becomes a thing.

 

[citizenHawk]

I think Clark would have committed to UConn, and still would have made the call to Bluder and ultimately played at Iowa. Only thing that would be different is the name of the decommit team in the bio.

 

[SCHawkFan]

UCONN was not going to offer both Paige and Caitlin and Paige, so it is probably not a hypothetical to discuss, but I agree that Caitlin was at the right school at the right time to do what she did. Caitlin hysteria would not have happened at UCONN, Notre Dame, or any other school.

 

[Beattheohiostate]

The evidence is pretty clear: If CC had gone anywhere else, she'd have been a good player, of course, but she never would have come close to becoming the icon she is today. A confluence of events must occur for someone, in any field, to become what CC has become to women's basketball. There is little doubt, again based on evidence, that CC would have been reigned in by any other coach. "Too many TOs. What kind of pass was that supposed to be? Stop playing so fast. You can't expect the other players to see the game the way you do. And those logo threes? What the hell? Get the ball inside the gym before you start shooting, or you'll be sitting here with me." And so CC would have been very good, but nothing like what she was at Iowa or what she is now. Not . . . even . . . close.

IMHO, it's impossible to give Lisa Bluder too much credit for the CC phenomenon she allowed to flourish. Lisa, like only a handful of coaches at any level in any sport, could see what was inside CC. Lisa could see the potential and allowed it, like a mighty river, to find its own course. There is no CC without Lisa Bluder, plain and simple.

 

[General Tso]

I was thinking about this last night. If Geno had offered CC, she'd have certainly committed. It was her dream to play there. What would the results have been for Iowa the last five years had that occurred? Bluder would have had good teams. NCAA tourney teams, each year more than likely. But...no home sellouts. No national buzz. Certainly no BIG titles or Final Fours. And not nearly as many big name commitments on the recruiting trail. I think it's fair to say all of this. It's wild how much of a difference one decision made for our women's program. I wonder how much thought Geno gave to offering CC?

 

[intrepodor]

I was thinking about this last night. If Geno had offered CC, she'd have certainly committed. It was her dream to play there. What would the results have been for Iowa the last five years had that occurred? Bluder would have had good teams. NCAA tourney teams, each year more than likely. But...no home sellouts. No national buzz. Certainly no BIG titles or Final Fours. And not nearly as many big name commitments on the recruiting trail. I think it's fair to say all of this. It's wild how much of a difference one decision made for our women's program. I wonder how much thought Geno gave to offering CC?

She would not have the impact that she experienced at Iowa

 

[Hawkfan_08]

Good chance Clark would have won natty at UCONN, Better chance Geno puts harness on C.C. and Clark mania never becomes a thing.

This!