Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin meet the media at the Final Four

The spotlight is one again shining bright on the Iowa women’s basketball team. In particular, the national Player of the Year Caitlin Clark was the focus on the media session to kickoff Iowa’s Final Four experience. Clark spoke the growth the the game and her role in it, her status with USA Basketball, facing UCONN on Friday night and the impact that Lisa Bluder has had on them.

Q. Caitlin, kind of piggyback off what Lisa said, so much of the attention has been on you specifically this year. And you mentioned this over the weekend. When you’re gone, what do you want to see and what do you think needs to happen to continue the momentum that women’s basketball has seen over the last couple of years?

CAITLIN CLARK: Yeah, I think the parity in our game has certainly helped over the course of the last, you know, whatever, five years. I think there’s always been the blue bloods that have always been very good, but over the past Final Fours you’ve seen maybe teams that haven’t been there in 25, 30 years. I think that’s really good for our game. It attracts new fans. It showcases new players. It showcases new coaches.

And I think also the amount of stars we have in our game, especially the young stars we have in our game, I think this freshman class really put on a show this year. They had me watching. They had everybody around the country watching.

And I think the beauty is most of them are going to have to stay and play for four years, and they’re just going to get better and better. Their teams are going to get better and better. And that will also additionally help the parity in our game and attract more people to want to watch. So I think those two things are the most exciting part about the future of women’s college basketball.

Q. Caitlin, to your point about there’s all this other stuff going on here, there’s a USA Basketball mini camp that you were invited to, but you’re busy so you can’t go. Have you talked with anyone from USA Basketball about how you might navigate that going forward? Have you seen — all the players are walking around here. Has anyone come up and talked to you — hey, we’re ready for you to join whenever you’re ready?

CAITLIN CLARK: Honestly, first of all, I’ve been lucky enough to play for USA Basketball three times on their Junior National Team. I know how the system works.

And Coach Bluder has coached for them three times. And anytime you’re invited to do anything for USA Basketball it’s a tremendous honor. For me it was a win-win, either doing that or this. And obviously this was where my focus was. I wanted to get back to the Final Four with this group.

And honestly I haven’t talked to anybody. I have people that do that for me. And I think growing up, like, your dream is always to be on the national team and play for the national team. And a lot of those players that are, you know, in that pool or selection of who’s going to be on the Olympic team are my idols. Those are people I grew up watching and wanting to be like.

So I think it’s more than anything it’s just a tremendous honor to be invited and be on the same list as a lot of those great players.

Q. Caitlin, you just talked about how to continue the momentum that women’s basketball has right now. You guys are in it. So it’s probably hard to recognize. How would you describe the moment that the sport is having right now?

KATE MARTIN: I mean, it’s just super cool to be a part of. We’re not taking anything for granted when it comes to that. I think it’s hard when you’re in the moment, like you said, to really recognize and realize what is happening, but, I mean, it shows with our viewership versus LSU, 12.3 million viewers. That’s something super cool.

And that just attracts more fans and that’s a good brand of basketball. LSU’s a great team. So are we.

So it’s fun whenever we can be a part of this, and obviously having stars like Caitlin and other stars across the country, that attracts more and more people. And it’s fun to be in the position that we are and be role models and people that others can look up to.

CAITLIN CLARK: Yeah, I think the biggest thing is there’s been so many amazing players that have come before us and laid a really solid foundation of what our game has become over, maybe the viewership numbers over the course of the last two years.

But I think as a competitor and being involved in this moment, it’s hard for you to wrap your head around. When you step on the court and you’re playing for 40 minutes you’re not thinking, oh, my gosh, there’s 12 million-plus people watching this game at home. That’s not going through your mind.

And obviously once you see those numbers, you see those numbers up against, like, it was only beat out by one regular season college football game. We beat out every NBA game other than the Game 5 of the Finals, I think that really puts into perspective what exactly where women’s basketball is going and the type of excitement around our game.

But I think as a competitor and somebody that’s so focused on what this team needs to do and playing two games a weekend, it’s hard for you to wrap your head around.

Q. Tactically speaking, Coach Bluder, you were discussing how it’s Iowa against UConn. And if it were a chess match, what would be the chess — the checkmate X factor for success for your team.

KATE MARTIN: I mean, we obviously know that there are a very good team. They’re very disciplined in all aspects and they’re obviously very well coached. We know they have Paige on their team. We’re not going to score, keep her to zero points.

But I think we’re going to change up, different defenses, throw some different things at them, keep them on their toes.

But really at this point in the season it’s really more about us than who we’re going against. We’re going to continue to focus on things that we focused on all year and play Iowa basketball. I think that’s the main thing is executing what we need to do.

CAITLIN CLARK: I would say the same. I think — I don’t think there’s just like one thing that’s like you do this, you win the game. I think it’s you have to play a complete basketball game. I think that’s what we’ve been able to do over the course of the last two games, whether it was Colorado or LSU.

We were really good on defense. We started off a little in zone versus LSU and played man-to-man the rest of the game and really battled. I think we’re going to have to play a great half-court defense, gonna need to run in transition, need going to execute our offense in the half court. I think it’s all those things.

And like Kate said at this point you scout and watch film, but at the same time you’ve got to have a lot of focus on yourself too and executing what you do. I think that’s where a lot of our focus lies.

Q. Talk about the impact that Coach Bluder has had on your careers, both on and off the court?

CAITLIN CLARK: I think, I could sit up here and talk all day about Coach Bluder. I think the biggest thing for myself is she believed we would be here and be in this moment. That was the greatest thing for me going throughout the recruiting process, is I wanted to play for a coach that had the same vision that I did.

And we were probably about the only two people that believed we would be at a Final Four. And now we’re at back-to-back Final Fours.

And in addition I think she’s one of the best leaders I’ve been around. She values every person in her program from top to bottom whether you’re a student trainer. Whether you’re the associate head coach you’re going to get her same attention, and she’s going to value you just the same because everybody’s role’s important.

And that goes for every single player on our team, too. Like, we all have an equal voice. We all are valued the same inside our locker room. I think that speaks for our culture. But also, like, people can tell when they’re watching how excited our bench is, how excited our players are on the court. And that starts with your head coach. And I’m just lucky to be coached by her.

KATE MARTIN: I want to echo everything Caitlin said. But also, something that’s super special about Coach Bluder is she cares about us as people first over basketball players. And she’d be one of the first people I would go to her office and go with a problem. Or if I needed advice for anything, she’ll be the first person to give me great advice and be a shoulder to lean on.

So I appreciate that about her. But I mean, I’ve always wanted to play for Coach Bluder ever since I was really young. It’s been a dream come true because she’s the best, and I’m very grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to play for her for six years.

Q. Caitlin, you played against Paige and UConn, if my memory is right, in 2021 in the tournament. It was very different circumstances in a whole lot of ways, off the court, with the pandemic and everything. But what are your memories of playing against her? And how different do you think this moment’s going to be? I know your coach doesn’t want it to be about Paige against Caitlin, but this moment is so big, what do you think it’s going to be like?

CAITLIN CLARK: Honestly, that game is super blurry. It feels like forever ago. I was looking back and I saw some old footage of that game and we both look really, really young. It’s cool to see how our careers have evolved, and a lot of different players on both teams.

But I don’t know, like Coach said, it’s not Paige versus Caitlin, and it takes the entire team to win a basketball game. Both of us are going to do everything we can.

But I think the coolest thing about Paige is how resilient she is. Obviously she’s been kind of dealt a tough hand and only has positive things to say about her teammates. And the way she carries herself on and off the court and the way she works hard, none of that has changed.

Since I’ve known her since she was in middle school she’s always worked that same way, always had that fire and been a leader.

I really honestly couldn’t be happier for her for the year she’s had and the way she’s led this team back to the Final Four when they’ve dealt a tough hand as a program. And they never made excuses. To me, I think that’s something, you know, you just really admire as a competitor more than anything. So I think it’s really cool.

Q. Caitlin, why do you wear No. 22? Is there inspiration behind it?

CAITLIN CLARK: Honestly, I’m not a very creative person. I was born on January 22nd. It’s what I went with when I was about 5 years old.

Q. Caitlin, since we’re in Cleveland, and this is where your college career will end, it’s also where LeBron’s NBA career began. Have you had any interactions with him over the years? And do you plan to play until you’re 40 and score 40,000 points?

CAITLIN CLARK: That wouldn’t be too bad. I wouldn’t say no to that. Honestly, I’ve never talked to LeBron directly. But obviously I’ve seen he’s commented about myself. And I just saw this morning he talked about women’s basketball in general and how good the game is and the stars in our game.

He knows what he’s talking about. He pays attention. He supports the game. He doesn’t just talk about it. Like, he really shows up and supports. I think that’s the coolest thing; one of the greatest players of all time really helping support and grow women’s basketball. Like, that’s exactly what we need.

He’s somebody I’ve always idolized. It’s cool to be in Cleveland and play here, a place where his career started, and he was able to do so many amazing things.

Q. Obviously you don’t need anybody’s validation outside of your locker room for what you ladies have been able to accomplish. But piggybacking off what Tom said about LeBron. You have Luka. You’ve had celebrities coming out of the woodwork kind of parachuting in watching your game. Does it feel differently when you have so many people talking about your sport that you live every single day, and now everybody, including our talk shows and around the country, physically and verbally talking about your sport on a daily basis over the last month?

KATE MARTIN: You go.

CAITLIN CLARK: I think it’s really special. I think it’s cool. This is exactly what we wanted for women’s basketball, but also I feel like it could have been a thing a long time ago. There’s been so many amazing stars in our game. There’s been so many amazing people to support our game.

It’s not surprising that everybody’s wanting to talk about it right now. But the product has always been there. Maybe it’s on an increased level.

And I think that goes back to my first point, is the parity in our game, the stars in our game, the young talent in our game, people are just attracted to that. They love watching it. They love watching the competitive fire.

They love seeing more upsets in the women’s tournament. All of that is just attracting more and more people. It doesn’t get old seeing so many people talk about women’s basketball. For me, that’s the greatest thing. I know it will only continue to grow more.

Q. Caitlin, I know the job’s not finished. You’ve done some amazing things, obviously on and off the court. What are you proud of most?

CAITLIN CLARK: Oh, gosh, that’s a loaded question. I don’t know. I mean, I think I’m most proud of just the way my career’s evolved over the course of the last four years. I think coming in here and, I don’t know, there wasn’t — people didn’t ever think we would get to the Final Four. Now to be here back-to-back times is amazing.

But at the end of the day people aren’t going to remember how many points I scored. People aren’t going to remember — people may remember we were in the Final Four twice — but people aren’t going to remember like my buzzer-beating shots versus whoever.

That’s not going to matter to people in the end. I hope they remember how we made them feel, how we brought joy to their lives, how we gave their families something to scream about on the TV on the weekends. I hope those are the biggest things people remember.

I hope all the young boys and girls remember the joy that we played with and how we took 10 seconds of our time to sign their autograph and that inspired them to be whatever they want to be.

I think that goes for, I think I’m speaking for our entire team, and that’s what we’re the most proud of, the way we’ve carried ourselves through this entire process. I think that’s additionally allowed us to have so much success on the court, just the team and the family we’ve built over the past four years.

And that speaks to the way Coach Bluder has built this program. There’s been a lot of good Iowa women’s basketball players to come before us and give us a foundation to maybe take another step forward and take the program to a place it hasn’t been since the ’90s.

For me, that’s the coolest thing. I’ve had so many amazing life opportunities and created so many memories with some of my best friends, and those are the things that will last forever.