Women's Fastbreak On SI

Geno Auriemma Suggests WNBA Players Were 'Beating Up' Caitlin Clark Over Trash Talk

UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma is causing another stir with his recent comments on Caitlin Clark's on-court conduct.

Grant Young

Apr 4, 2024; Cleveland, OH, USA; UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma talks to the media during a practice session at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Apr 4, 2024; Cleveland, OH, USA; UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma talks to the media during a practice session at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

UConn Huskies women's basketball head coach Geno Auriemma will go down as one of the greatest basketball coaches to ever grace the game.

The 11-time National Championship-winning coach has surely gotten to this position of unprecedented success by speaking his mind. Whether it be to his players, his coaching staff, or to the media, Auriemma has never been afraid to speak his truth.

However, his truth doesn't always resonate with the women's basketball fanbase.

Auriemma dropped a few takes about how Indiana Fever icon Caitlin Clark would fare during her rookie season during a June 6 episode of "The Dan Patrick Show" that have aged horribly.

But that didn't stop him from speaking his mind on Clark once again during a recent episode of the "Make a Difference With Phil Martelli" podcast.

"I think one of the things that makes Caitlin Clark who she is is the way she is with people," Auriemma said. "She connects with people, and people connect with her.

"Now she talks a lot of s*** on the court," he continued of Clark. "When people talk about the WNBA, 'Why are these people beating up on Caitlin Clark?' Because she talks a lot of s*** on the court. That's what makes her good. So she's not like this angel walking out there and everybody else is beating her up. Nah. She has got a lot to say."

This would seem to contradict a quote Auriemma had on the aforementioned "Dan Patrick Show", where he said that Clark is getting "targeted" by her WNBA peers.

"If you're a WNBA player... you're going to say 'I'm going to make a statement'. Targeted. Targeted by society, targeted by her looks, targeted by her reputation, targeted by the disrespect that [her fans] have shown to the WNBA, there's a huge target on this kid's back," he said.

While perhaps Clark's trash talk is another reason why Auriemma believes she's "targeted", his not mentioning that initially has raised eyebrows from her fanbase.

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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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