Women's Fastbreak On SI

Geno Auriemma's Caitlin Clark WNBA Rookie Year Takes Aged Like Milk

UConn coach Geno Auriemma's ice-cold Caitlin Clark takes from earlier this summer have resurfaced.

Grant Young

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Back in June, legendary UConn Huskies women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma made an appearance on "The Dan Patrick Show".

Among the topics Auriemma and Patrick discussed was Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark, who had a 2-9 WNBA regular season record at the point of their interview.

Auriemma, who has won 11 NCAA Championships during his 39 seasons at UConn, made multiple critical comments about Clark's readiness for the WNBA, her potential in the professional game, and her "delusional" fanbase.

"The delusional fanbase that follows [Clark] disrespected the WNBA players by saying she's going to go in that league and tear it apart," Auriemma said. "The kid was set up for failure right from the beginning."

He went on to note that "Diana Taurasi is right. [Clark] is on the wrong team. She has the wrong skill set to handle the physicality of that league. And she's a rookie."

Another comment Auriemma made in the interview that turned heads was how Clark, "[is] just not built for the physicality of this league. And she's not quick enough to get away from the physicality."

Clark has flourished in the WNBA since that interview aired. She has proven that she's strong and physical enough to compete in the professional game, has run away with WNBA Rookie of the Year voting, is on pace to set the WNBA single-season record for assists, and has even entered the WNBA MVP conversation.

Plus, her Indiana Fever team are 11-6 since that interview.

X user @StrollerAdam called back to Auriemma's post on Wednesday night by replying to it and writing, "This aged like milk.

Geno Auriemma from UCONN said during this interview that:

Caitlin Clark is not strong enough to be in the WNBA.
Caitlin Clark is not good enough to be in the WNBA.
Caitlin Clark's fanbase is delusional.
Caitlin Clark is not good enough to be any conversation for the WNBA MVP.
Caitlin Clark will never be a Diana Taurasi.

A reminder that Caitlin Clark eliminated Geno, Paige Bueckers, and UCONN during the Final Four this past college season.

Also a note that UCONN was Caitlin Clark's dream school but Geno never called."

Stroller's reply has nearly 130,000 views.

Auriemma typically knows women's basketball better than just about anyone else. But he was dead wrong about these Caitlin Clark takes.

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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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