Happy New Year 2025

Tag: Iowa

Caitlin Clark watches Iowa stun No 4 USC as her jersey gets retired

Caitlin Clark had a terrific Sunday afternoon.

The University of Iowa women’s basketball program immortalized Clark’s career forever as they officially retired her No. 22 jersey and hung it in the rafters of Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Clark stood with her family as the number was raised to the top of the facility.

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Former Iowa guard and current Indiana Fever WNBA player Caitlin Clark speaks during a news conference before the game between Iowa and USC, Feb. 2, 2025, in Iowa City. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Clark then got to watch the Hawkeyes stun No. 4 USC for one of the biggest wins of their season. Lucy Olsen scored 28 points and Addison O’Grady had 13 in the 76-69 win. Iowa opened the game on a 17-1 run but were down at halftime before righting the ship and pulling off the victory.

Olsen and O’Grady had 23 of Iowa’s 25 fourth-quarter points.

JuJu Watkins, who is set to be the next women’s basketball star, led the team with 27 points, five rebounds and three assists. She was 8-of-22 from the field and played 40 minutes.

But it wasn’t enough for the Trojans to hold off Iowa.

Clark, who became college basketball’s all-time leading scorer while leading Iowa to back-to-back national championship appearances, spoke about her jersey retirement before the game.

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Southern California guard JuJu Watkins drives to the basket during the first half against Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

“I feel like I already have those butterflies in your stomach when you walk in here,” Clark said during a pregame press conference. “Not so much for a basketball game now, but obviously just to be around everybody and to enjoy this environment. I don’t have to go and compete for 40 minutes, even though I wish maybe I could. I think it will definitely be a little bit more emotional that I don’t have to compete.”

A sellout crowd of 14,998 attended the game. Former Iowa coach Lisa Bluder and former teammates Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall were in attendance. Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White and comedian David Letterman were also at the game.

Clark reflected on the winning Iowa did while she was at the press conference.

“The winning came because of the great culture that we had,” she said. “And for me, I hope that’s the thing that always stays intact, and I know it will, because of the great coaching staff we have and the type of players that they are here.

Commemorative towels for former Iowa guard and current Indiana Fever WNBA player Caitlin Clark are shown before her jersey retirement ceremony, Feb. 2, 2025, in Iowa City. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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“We had players that were selfless. We had players that didn’t care how many points you were going to score. They’re going to do whatever they could for your teammates. They were going to hold their teammates accountable. And I think that’s a lost art in college these days, and you don’t always see that.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.

February 2, 2025
Caitlin Clark responds to critics ahead of Iowa jersey retirement: ‘I really don’t care’

Caitlin Clark has become one of the most polarizing figures in all of sports over the last year-plus.

Her popularity reached a peak nearly two years ago when she and Angel Reese duked it out in the national championship – and then, she became a household name.

Clark set numerous records in her senior year, including becoming the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer, and parlayed it all into becoming the No. 1 overall pick.

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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark plays against the Dallas Wings in Indianapolis, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

But then came the culture wars that she found herself in the middle of, with many, including WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, saying that her race played a role in her popularity.

Clark was the victim of some hard fouls and trash talk throughout her rookie season, but it didn’t seem to faze her, as she set plenty of records in Year One.

Clark returned to Iowa on Sunday to see her No. 22 go into the rafters, and she was asked about the criticism she’s received recently.

“I think it’s just life. Everybody goes through some of the things that I’ve gone through, a lot of people go through a lot worse. I just try to remind myself every single day how grateful I am to be in the position I am, I want to treat everyone the same way that I would want to be treated. It speaks to the way I was raised and my parents raised me. There’s gonna be good days, there’s gonna be bad days. But it’s just, you go with the flow. I think having a good circle around me, a small circle around me of people that I really trust that I can always count on and lean on is what’s been so important for me over this past year,” Clark told reporters on Sunday.

Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates after drawing a foul in the game against the West Virginia Mountaineers during the NCAA Division 1 Women’s Basketball Championship at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 25, 2024, in Iowa City. (Matthew Holst/Getty Images)

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“But also, I’ve said this before, I feel like one of my greatest skills is I really don’t care. Like, I don’t. I don’t care. I believe in myself, I’m confident in myself, I’m confident in my teammates, I try to instill that in them, I’m confident in the coaching staff of whatever team I was on, whether that was [at Iowa], whether that’s at the Fever now. You just rely on those people. Nobody gets to step inside your locker room… Everybody thinks they know everything and have an answer, but that’s just not reality. That goes for all of professional sports, that goes for all of you as well and people in life.”

As Clark’s rookie season progressed, there were allegations of racism from both Fever and Iowa fans, a claim made by the aforementioned Reese.

But Clark’s appearances in games brought historic viewership to both the college and pro levels. The final three games of her college career were the most-watched women’s college basketball games ever. She also had several of her regular-season games draw more viewers than WNBA playoff games, and her WNBA matchups with Reese were some of the most-viewed WNBA games ever.

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark works to the basket against Dallas Wings guard Sevgi Uzun, Sept. 1, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

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WNBA teams even had to move to larger arenas simply because of the ticket demand Clark drew; the Fever sold 90 times more tickets this past year than in 2023.

Clark was named the Rookie of the Year for her historic campaign during which she set the record for the most assists in one season in league history. She carried the Fever to a playoff appearance after a slow start, and she quickly became a double-double machine. She even set a single-game record with 19 assists. She also became the first rookie to record a triple-double, registering two of them.

She received the most votes for the All-Star Game and was just the fifth rookie in league history to make the All-WNBA first-team.

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February 2, 2025
Arizona’s Caleb Love’s miracle heave helps Wildcats stun Iowa State: ‘Best moment of my life’

Arizona Wildcats men’s basketball star Caleb Love played the hero in the team’s upset over the No. 3 Iowa State Cyclones on Monday night.

The Wildcats were down 71-68 with 2.2 seconds left in the game when Love received the inbound pass. He took a couple of dribbles and heaved up a prayer from well beyond half-court and nailed the shot. Love’s Wildcats teammates celebrated as the team forced overtime.

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Arizona guard Caleb Love, #1, reacts after scoring against Iowa State during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025 in Tucson, Arizona. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Arizona locked in and defeated Iowa State, 86-75. Love had 22 points in the win.

“Best moment of my life,” he said after the game. “Obviously, it wasn’t going our way throughout the game, but you’ve got to trust your work, to stay confident.”

Love, a senior transfer from North Carolina, did not have the best of shooting nights in the win but came up clutch when it mattered the most. He was 8-of-22 from the field overall and only 4-of-13 from 3-point range. He had two assists and two steals as well.

It was the heave that made all the difference.

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Arizona guard Caleb Love, #1, and forward Carter Bryant, #9, celebrate after defeating Iowa State in overtime in an NCAA college basketball game on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025 in Tucson, Arizona. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

“We actually practice half-courters in practice for fun, and he’s decent at it, but I’m probably a little better,” Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd said. “He let it go, it was on line — all you can do is get it on line and don’t leave it short. When it went in, it was pretty amazing.”

Arizona, which came into the game unranked, definitely needed a big-time win for its tournament resume as it improved to 14-6 on the season. The team improved to 4-2 against ranked opponents after losing their first two against Duke and UCLA earlier in the season.

Cyclones guard Tamin Lipsey led the team with 18 points. He was 7-of-13 from the field.

Arizona guard Caleb Love, #1, drives on Iowa State guard Keshon Gilbert, #10, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025 in Tucson, Arizona. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

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Iowa State fell to 17-3 on the season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.

January 28, 2025