By Tessa Nacke
“Caitlin Clark!” A friend shouts as they shoot a piece of paper into the trash can. (She missed the trash can, but we’ll give her the point).
All around the country, women’s college basketball players such as Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers are drawing attention to the often underrepresented women of basketball.
During March, the college tournament known as “March Madness” consumed the attention of many fans.
“The 2023 NCAA Division 1 championship game, where [Iowa State University] lost to Louisiana State University, had nearly 10 million viewers on ABC and ESPN2, a record for an NCAA women’s basketball game,” cnbc.com said.
Clark, a record-breaking standout from Iowa State University, has been racking up millions of new fans as she charms the audience with her precise shooting skills, often shot ‘from beyond the three.’ She has broken all kinds of records throughout her impressive college career, such as becoming Iowa’s all-time leading scorer, becoming Division I women’s career scoring leader, the all-time leader in points among major women’s college basketball players and becoming the third player in Iowa program history to have her jersey number retired.
“For the first time, the women’s title game drew more viewers than the men’s, averaging 18.7 million viewers on ABC and ESPN and peaking at 24 million viewers. This made the game played between No. 1 seeds Iowa and South Carolina the most-watched women’s college basketball game on record, as well as the most watched basketball game, men’s or women’s, since 2019,” the NCAA said.
Reese, the ‘Bayou Barbie’ of Louisiana State University, has also drawn lots of fans to the program, as well as teammates such as Haley Van Lith.
Bueckers, the University of Connecticut’s point guard, has taken over TikTok, with many people’s ‘For You’ pages being filled with edits of her charismatic attitude and efficient shots.
With the WNBA draft occurring a few weeks ago on April 15, Clark and Reese both have been drafted to professional teams. Clark was the first overall draft pick, being drafted to the Indiana Fever, while Reese was the seventh pick, drafted to the Chicago Sky.
Can the WNBA keep the spark alive?
They just might be able to, especially with the introduction of Clark to the franchise. The Indiana Fever has already been slated to televise 36 of the 40 games played during the season. Jersey sales adorned with Clark’s namesake have already spiked, and many are turning a closer ear to women’s basketball than ever before.
This newfound fandom has inspired many young girls to consider joining basketball and has even drawn unlikely fans to the franchise.
