Women's Fastbreak On SI

Caitlin Clark Fired Up by Iowa Team Bus Driver's Passionate NCAA Tournament Pep Talk

Caitlin Clark was ready to run through a brick wall after hearing the speech her alma mater Iowa Hawkeyes got from their bus driver before the NCAA Tournament.

Grant Young

Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark (22) celebrates in the final seconds of a second-round NCAA Tournament game between Iowa and West Virginia, Monday, March 25, 2024 at Carver Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.
Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark (22) celebrates in the final seconds of a second-round NCAA Tournament game between Iowa and West Virginia, Monday, March 25, 2024 at Carver Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. / Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team produced a dominant 92-57 win over Murray State in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

While this is the first Hawkeyes NCAA Tournament game that Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark wasn't playing in in four seasons, there's no question that she was watching to see her alma mater put up a program NCAA Tournament record 28 assists during Saturday's big win.

And it's no surprise why the Hawkeyes played so passionately on the court after their Instagram account posted a video of the team bus driver (named Zee) giving the team a motivational pep talk before the game.

In the video, Zee can be heard saying, "Remember when y'all tried out for this team? Everybody remember that feeling? That's what I need from you today. I need you to go out there thinking like 'If we don't win, we can never play ball again.'"

She later added, "Real talk, I've been doing this for a while. You gotta psych your mind and say 'If we don't win, we can NEVER play ball again.' It's a done deal, right? If you go out there with that mindset, it won't matter who you playing. It's about to be some problems, you hear me?"

Zee ended the pep talk by leading the team in a "We ready!" chant.

The top two comments on the post are from Clark, who wrote, "Okay eat then. This had me about to go thru a brick wall … heck yeah".

She then added, "Get her Iowa wbb merch .. she deserves it," before tagging several members of Iowa's team and coaching staff.

We can only imagine how many points Clark would have dropped on Murray State if she'd played after this pep talk.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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