Women's basketball is bouncing back with fans | The Excerpt

On a special episode (first released on May 1, 2024) of The Excerpt podcast: Caitlin Clark has set the sports world on fire. This year, she became the all-time leading scorer in the history of college basketball – that's for men and women. Fans, took notice – including a record-18.7 million people who tuned into the NCAA Championship Game to watch South Carolina defeat Clark’s Iowa team. As Clark gets ready for her first WNBA season, can she do at the professional level what she did for the college game? USA TODAY Sports National Correspondent Lindsay Schnell joins The Excerpt to break down how women's sports is breaking barriers.

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Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Hello and welcome to the Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson. Today is Wednesday, May 1st, 2024, and this is a special episode of the Excerpt. Women's basketball star Caitlin Clark has set the sports world on fire. This year she became the all-time leading scorer in the history of college basketball. That's for men and women. And she reached the record in style hitting three-pointers from near half court and lighting up the sport with her electric passing. Fans took notice, including a record 18.7 million people who tuned into the NCAA Championship game this year to watch South Carolina defeat Clark's Iowa team. Now a new challenge awaits as Clark gets ready for her first WNBA season. Can she do for the WNBA what she did for the college game? I'm now joined by USA TODAY sports National Correspondent Lindsay Schnell to break it all down. Lindsay, thanks for hoping on the Excerpt today.

Lindsay Schnell:

Yes, of course. Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So Caitlin Clark has been drafted by the Indiana Fever. What kind of a milestone was this moment?

Lindsay Schnell:

First of all, I think we all knew it was going to happen. Everyone had suspected that if she did in fact forego her COVID year, that she would go number one. And I think it's really a cool moment for her and for women's basketball fans in the Midwest because she has such a strong foundation there. I mean, don't get me wrong, wherever she goes, she's going to be popular. But to be in Big 10 Country, which is where she's played the last four years at the University of Iowa, is pretty cool. There's also a fun little note that her boyfriend works for the Indiana Pacers. So it's fun. I think it's extra cool for her to be able to be reunited with him, be in a city she's familiar with, a place where fans know her and love her.

Taylor Wilson:

And just as for this season on the whole, Lindsay, how massive will this WNBA season be? Is this the most hype the league has ever seen when it comes to Jersey sales, ticket sales, and more?

Lindsay Schnell:

Yeah, I think so. How big will it be? We're going to find out. The WNBA numbers, when you think of TV ratings, are nothing compared to what the college game is. Part of that is because their season is at a weird time, it's in the summer. People have a lot going on in the summer. There's a lot of other things to do and other things to see. A lot of people are not in their houses, right? They're out enjoying the sunshine. They go up against the NFL a lot with different big games. So there are a lot of factors that have played a role in the WNBA not really exploding in the way that some would think that it should have done, considering that it's 28 years old.

Is this the most hype to ever go into a season? It's kind of hard to say. I mean, when Brittany Griner, Skylar Diggins and Elena Deldon went in, the three to see, they had three different players, a little bit for everyone, and those three are still in the league. There was a lot of hype around that class. But I think that what we're seeing now, I was just listening to a podcast with Andrea Carter from ESPN, and she said "The difference in the women's game right now, because we've always had insane talent, is the visibility matches the talent". So the Fever are going to be on prime time a lot. All their games are going to be on TV. That's huge. You don't just have to, as Kelsey Plum of the Las Vegas Aces once said, "Hop through 13 hoops to find a WNBA game on TV". So is she going to be able to lift the league? The league sure hopes so.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah. So as for Caitlin herself, Lindsay, let's just talk X's and O's for a second. Tell us about the basketball situation she's entering in Indiana, in terms of joining this league also, how big of a step-up is this from the college game she just left?

Lindsay Schnell:

I mean, this is huge. She's going to play against and be defended by veterans who have been in the league, have been playing professionally, both here in the States and overseas for over a decade. There is going to be an adjustment period. She walks into a team that has a lot of scorers around her, has a lot of really good pieces. And I think that for as much as Caitlin scores, and that's what people fall in love with, are the logo 3s. She is a tremendous passer and her instinct is always to pass the ball. She has excellent court vision. She's particularly deadly in transition, and she's now going to play with Aliyah Boston, who was the number one pick in 2023 and the 2023 Rookie of the Year, a big who loves to run the floor. She's going to play with Kelsey Mitchell, who scored a lot of points when she was at Ohio State not that long ago.

So she's going to have a lot of pieces around her that she's just going to be able to facilitate. Like I said, there is going to be an adjustment. She's not going to do anything that defenders haven't seen before. I was talking with a WNBA player about Caitlin shooting logo 3s. So that's instantly going to give her, that's going to be something that translates right away. And there's no one in the W that currently does that, that shoots from that far out. And this player said to me, "Well, yeah, but we don't do, it's not because we can't, because all the data shows us that our best shot is to put the ball in the paint". So she's not going to come down and launch a 28 footer when Aliyah Boston is in the paint waiting for the ball. So I think that's a really good point, and I'm curious to see that.

To me, one of the biggest adjustments for her is going to be she's not a very efficient dribbler. She wasn't in college. She didn't have to be. She could take a ton of dribbles. In the WNBA, you can't do that. You have to be so intentional with every single move you make because you are going up against a world-class athlete who knows everything about your game and has read a very detailed scouting report on you every time you take the floor. So there's going to be an adjustment period. I do think she will excel, but it might take a little time.

Taylor Wilson:

Lindsay, there have been some legends, really, of women's basketball who have not necessarily rolled out the red carpet for Clark's entrance to the WNBA. Thinking Diana Taurasi, one of the best ever who've said on ESPN "Reality is coming". What was Taurasi getting at here and were you surprised by those comments?

Lindsay Schnell:

First of all, this happens in the guys' game all the time and no one cares. So I think there's quite a bit of sexism around this conversation, and we need to acknowledge that. Diana Taurasi is considered the greatest player of all time in the women's game, and as I saw someone say so perfectly on social media, trash talk is her love language. So that's what she's known for. She's also telling the truth. Every rookie who has come into the league, especially as a guard with the ball in their hands, more pressure on them, there has been an adjustment period. I mean, Kelsey Plum, whose record Caitlin pass as the all time women's leader, came into the league and basically had an identity crisis for three years. And she has talked about that openly. She had to completely change her game in order to excel at the professional level.

So I don't think that Diana and Breanna Stewart, who everyone calls Stewie, has also made some comments. I don't think that any of them are being mean. I think they're being realistic, and I also think they're excited to... Megan Gustafson, who plays in the WNBA now who played at Iowa, said to me, "Every veteran is going to be excited to make her look bad, because veterans are always excited to make college superstars look bad". So it's just that, and it's playful. And again, this happens in the NBA and it's not this big story. None of these players have been mean to Caitlin Clark. She understands it. She loves trash talk. She's the ultimate competitor. So I think she knows what she signed up for.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah. Interesting perspective there, Lindsay. So let's talk money. When it comes to the financials, Caitlin's income bracket is about to take a jump. How much do we expect Caitlin Clark to make at this next level, and what are her endorsement deals look like? I know there's a whole host of them.

Lindsay Schnell:

First of all, there's a collective bargaining agreement in the WNBA. So there is a max she can make as a rookie. This year in the 2024 season, it's right around $76,000. And I know that that seems like pocket change when you consider what Victor Wembanyama is making in the NBA. And it is for sure. It's also a lot more money than rookies made 10 years ago. So there is progress. It's important to keep in mind that she will be, players make a salary, but also their housing is taken care of in the W. so that's huge. And she's moving to a city that's a lot more affordable, imagine if she had been drafted to the LA Sparks, so that will help. But she has a ton of endorsement deals that are going to come with her from college. She's obviously signing new ones.

You see her on State Farm commercials on TV. My personal favorite that she has is a endorsement deal with Hy-Vee. It's a very Midwestern deal that she has, endorsement deal. I assume that since she got drafted by the Fever, she's going to keep that one, but she has plenty of others. She is reportedly about to sign an eight figure shoe deal with Nike, which will include a signature sneaker, sometime in the next couple of years. She'll become just the fourth woman to have a signature sneaker in the W currently. So her tax bracket, in terms of her WNBA salary might be underwhelming. But rest assured, she is making a lot of money and she will continue to because she's only going to become more marketable theoretically, especially now that she can devote all of her time to basketball. For as much as she rewrote the record book in Iowa, it's important to remember she was also a student. She was also taking classes. So now she gets to be an athlete full time.

Taylor Wilson:

Exciting stuff. So the Olympics are this summer in Paris, Lindsey, and conversations have already begun on whether Caitlin Clark will be on Team USA. What is the expectation here?

Lindsay Schnell:

I expect her to be on the Olympic roster. She was added to the training camp roster going into the final four, that is the last USA basketball training camp that they will have before the team is named sometime in June or July. The men's five by five team has obviously already been named, but the women's team has not been finalized yet. I fully expect her to make the roster. Is she going to play? I don't know. But the American women are typically head and shoulders above their competition, so it's not unrealistic to think that if she is on the roster and there are blowouts that she will get some minutes. And I think that by putting her on the roster, because she has become the most well-known figure in women's basketball... She is not the best player in women's basketball, that is an important distinction. That title goes to Asia Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, who will also be on the Olympic team. Because of Caitlin's marketability, they're going to put her on the team, I think, and then we're going to see a lot of games be broadcast on NBC, which is huge for women's basketball in general, because people then fall in love with Caitlin, other players on the team. We come back to the rest of the WNBA season and people want to watch W games and want to watch these other players.

Taylor Wilson:

Of course, the Olympics is a huge time for women's sports across the board. Beyond basketball, Lindsay, I'm going to give you a broad question here. How are we seeing Caitlin Clark's impact throughout other women's sports at this point?

Lindsay Schnell:

Well, I think that she has really elevated women's sports in a unique way. She's not the first to do it. I mean, think of how transcendent Serena Williams was and continues to be, even though she's not playing now. Think of how Katie Ledecky has done that. Simone Biles. So I think that what Caitlin is doing is she's a household name now, which is great. She's going to, because of the platform they're going to put her on, help other people become household names. And I think that what she's done is she's brought so many new eyeballs to the game, and it makes people who were dismissive of women's basketball and maybe women's sports overall decide, Hey, maybe I should also watch this women's softball game, this women's volleyball game. Maybe I should check in on women's track and field. So I think that's a huge positive for everyone.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, Lindsay Schnell, really interesting insight and perspective here. We are looking forward to not just the Indiana Fever, but an exciting WNBA season. Thank you, Lindsay.

Lindsay Schnell:

Yes, of course. Always happy to talk women's basketball.

Taylor Wilson:

Thanks to our senior producers, Shannon Rae Green and Bradley Glanzrock for their production assistance. Our executive producer is Laura Beatty. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending a note to podcasts@usatoday.com. Thanks for listening. I'm Taylor Wilson back tomorrow morning with another episode of the Excerpt.