Getty Caitlin Clark and Geno Auriemma.
UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma said Caitlin Clark is “on the wrong team.”
“The kid was set up for failure right from the beginning,” DAuriemma said June 6 during an appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show.” “You know, [Phoenix Mercury star] Diana Taurasi was right. This kid is on the wrong team. She’s got the wrong skillset to handle the physicality of that league, and she’s a rookie.”
Taurasi had said on an April 6 TV appearance that “reality was coming” for Clark, saying, “You look superhuman playing 18-year-olds, but you’re going to come with some grown women who’ve been playing professional basketball for a long time.”
Her team, the Indiana Fever, were 2-9 through June 5, the second worst record in the 12-team WNBA. Clark is averaging 15.6 points per game, 18th best in the league, and has 6.4 assists per game, fourth best in the league.
But Auriemma doubled down on his sentiment.
“[Clark] needs to be on a better team, and she needs to be more experienced,” he said before criticizing the entire 2024 WNBA rookie class during the segment.
“There’s a huge target on this kid’s back,” he said. “[Los Angeles Sparks rookie] Cameron Brink said something really smart. She said, ‘Now they’re expecting this rookie class to be perfect.’ This rookie class isn’t even one of the best rookie classes in the last 10 years. But they’ve been put out to be that because of the way social media is today.”
Brink made the comment in an interview published June 5 by Uproxx.
“It’s a learning process,” Brink told Uproxx’s Megan Armstrong. “But people expect us to be perfect, and it’s freaking exhausting.”
Geno Auriemma Criticized Chennedy Carter For Caitlin Clark Foul
Auriemma, in a June 5 Hartford Courant story, also criticized the Chicago Sky’s Chennedy Carter, who knocked down Clark in a June 1 game.
“The kid that knocked her out?” Auriemma said, according to the Courant’s Dom Amore. “That’s the only time she’s ever been on TV, and the only time she’s ever been interviewed by reporters. ‘Hey, I’m not answering any Caitlin Clark questions.’ That’s just junior high stuff.”
Auriemma was alluding to Carter’s refusal to answer questions about her altercation with Clark.
The UConn coaching icon also noted that he believes Clark is being “targeted” by league veterans.
“Every rookie has to go through the growing pains of being a professional basketball player,” Auriemma said. “And the more attention you get, and in today’s world, attention is No. 1, attention brings money … so is [Clark] facing the rookie challenge, the rookie hardships that are inherent with being a rookie? Yes. She’s also being targeted.”
Indiana Fever GM Calls Out WNBA for Caitlin Clark-Chennedy Carter Incident
Indiana Fever general manager Lin Dunn demanded change from the WNBA, after the incident between Clark and Carter occurred on June 1.
“There’s a difference between tough defense and unnecessary— targeting actions! It needs to stop! The league needs to ‘cleanup’ the crap! That’s NOT who this league is!!” Dunn posted on X June 1.
Fever head coach Christie Sides also addressed the June 1 incident during her postgame press conference. She said, “We’re just going to keep sending these possessions to the league and these plays, and hopefully they’ll start, you know, taking a better look at some of the things that we see happening or that we think is happening. Just more happy that Caitlin handled it the way she did.”
The Fever’s next game is against the Washington Mystics on June 7.