Caitlin Clark Offered Support for Iowa Successor Lucy Olsen
A generational talent like former Iowa Hawkeyes superstar and current Indiana Fever icon Caitlin Clark is impossible to replace.
There was no way that Iowa would be able to find somebody who could do what Clark does on the court because there's nobody else in the world who can do what Clark does on the court (aside from her), both in the NCAA and the WNBA.
However, the Hawkeyes found about as good of a replacement as they could have hoped for.
Former Villanova standout Lucy Olsen transferred to Iowa this past offseason after spending the first three seasons of her NCAA career with the Wildcats.
In her 2023-24 campaign, Olsen's 23.2 points per game with Villanova was fourth in the country, only behind Clark (31.9), USC Trojans icon JuJu Watkins (27.0), and Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo (23.3)
Olsen made her Hawkeyes regular season debut against Northern Illinois on Wednesday and scored 19 points while adding 7 assists.
According to Hawkeyes associate director of strategic communication Bailey Turner, the 19 points Olsen scored Wednesday were, "the 2nd-most by any Iowa player in their team debut over the last 25 seasons, trailing Caitlin Clark’s 27 against Northern Iowa in 2020."
Lucy Olsen’s 19 points last night are the 2nd-most by any Iowa player in their team debut over the last 25 seasons, trailing Caitlin Clark’s 27 against Northern Iowa in 2020.#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/mZ0sK5LZWx
— Bailey W. Turner (@Bailey_Turner_) November 7, 2024
Olsen was a guest on the "Sometimes I Hoop" podcast with Atlanta Dream player Haley Jones. At one point in their conversation, Olsen revealed words of support Clark has given her.
"I've talked to Caitlin [Clark] a little bit," Olsen said. "She's very nice. She's like 'let me know if you need anything. I'm always here. I went through a lot and I got you."
Clearly Clark is invested in her former program continuing the unprecedented success they had while she was there.
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.