Geno Auriemma didn’t hold back when dissecting the Caitlin Clark phenomenon, attributing her multi-million dollar empire to a twist of fate.
Caitlin Clark’s entry into the WNBA triggered a notable economic surge. During her rookie year, Indiana Fever broadcasts averaged 1.18 million national viewers, while marquee matchups hit peaks over 3.1 million, delivering the highest league ratings in two decades.
Off the floor, Clark signed a landmark eight-year, $28 million contract with Nike alongside major deals with Gatorade and Wilson.
Her power also broke other records, as Indiana brought in a single-season high of 340,715 home fans, driving team revenue to $32 million and directly helping back the league’s historic $2.2 billion media rights deal.
However, this all may never have happened if it wasn’t for an injury to Paige Bueckers.
The reason behind Caitlin Clark’s rise to stardom
11-time national championship-winning head coach of the UConn Women’s Basketball team, Geno Auriemma, has given his opinion on where it really started for Caitlin Clark.
He actually believes that it came down to an injury to Bueckers, who was the main player at the time, while speaking to Sirius XM.
Auriemma was asked: “What about Caitlin has made her such a commercial success?”
He responded: “Again, timing in life is everything. Being there, being present and being good enough at the perfect time, that’s usually the recipe for success.
“Caitlin and Paige were both freshmen in the same year, and that freshman year was the bubble year. Paige won every single award there was to win. The first freshman ever in history to win every award. And if you were to say, “Hey, who is the face of women’s basketball?” You would say Paige Bueckers. No one mentioned Caitlin Clark as a freshman. Through circumstances, Paige didn’t play, she missed a whole year, and Caitlin decided to start shooting from the logo and the place erupts.
“And it becomes a phenomenon not because she was a better player than anyone who had come before… but because she was taking shots that people in their right mind wouldn’t even take, much less make. She was doing something that no one had done before.
“So it kind of fueled everybody’s curiosity. All it needed was a little spark, and the fire was lit, so Caitlin took advantage of it by continuing to make big shots, continuing to make highlights.”
Despite the apparent switch, Paige Bueckers has proved her status as an elite star from day one, claiming Rookie of the Year honors and effortlessly translating her game to the WNBA.
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