Tag: Iowa Basketball

Caitlin Clark unsurprisingly deflects questions about Ice Cube and the BIG3’s $5 million offer

If you expected Caitlin to say anything else, we hate to break this news to you.

Caitlin Clark’s $5 million offer she received from Ice Cube and the BIG3 earlier this week has the internet buzzing. But Clark is seemingly unbothered by the noise or the actual offer, for that matter. She recently (and unsurprisingly) deflected any questions about it.

On Wednesday, news broke that Ice Cube and the BIG3 offered Caitlin Clark $5 million to play for their league. Fans immediately questioned the offer, given the conflicting season schedule with the WNBA and other factors that Ice Cube might not have considered.

During Friday’s media availability for the NCAA tournament, Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder was asked how Clark’s teammates handled the news. Bluder said it wasn’t a discussion point and that the only thing talked about was something Caitlin shared with her — a USA Basketball training camp invite for the Paris Olympics. When also asked about the offer, Caitlin deflected any questions but seemed to echo a similar sentiment.

Per ASAP Sports, here’s what she shared with reporters:

“I found out about the Big 3 thing at the exact time you all did, and my main focus is just on playing basketball. I think that’s the biggest thing. Like you said, USA Basketball is my — that’s your dream. You always want to grow up and be on the Olympic team, but lucky for me, I have the opportunity of possibly not doing that because I want to be at the Final Four playing basketball with my team.”

“But more than anything, my focus is on winning these two games, and that’s exactly how it should be. I honestly don’t talk about those things with really anybody. I have other people that deal with it, and they haven’t said a word to me about it.”

Patrick McCaffery entering NCAA transfer portal

PMac’s Iowa run is over. The Hawkeye forward is entering the NCAA transfer portal.

Another Hawkeye is hitting the NCAA transfer portal.

Per Hawkeye Insider’s David Eickholt, the latest portal entry is redshirt senior forward Patrick McCaffery. The 6-foot-9, 212 pound forward averaged 8.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game this past season.

McCaffery shot 44.1% from the field, 31.2% from 3-point range and 78.8% from the free throw line.

“He needed to come back. He loves the game. He’s really worked hard. You look at his body and how it’s changed over the years, that’s been a more difficult process for him than it would be for other people. He needed to be able to get his body to where it is and then go perform.

“I think he also knew that this team needed leadership, and he could provide that. I’m really thrilled he’s here, and he’s doing a terrific job in all of those areas,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said of his son Patrick before the 2023-24 men’s college basketball season.

McCaffery ends his Hawkeye career with 1,044 points, 382 rebounds, 145 assists. The Iowa City West product shot 42.5% for his career from the field, 32.2% from 3-point range and 75.0% from the free throw line.

McCaffery has a final season of eligibility to use elsewhere now. He joins sophomore guard Dasonte Bowen and senior guard Tony Perkins as Hawkeyes that have entered the transfer portal this offseason.

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Why Caitlin Clark likely won’t accept Ice Cube’s $5 million offer to play in the BIG3

We respect the hustle, but have some shame, Ice Cube. It’s okay to have shame.

Another day, another company vying for the chance to get in on the phenomenon that is Caitlin Clark. This time, it’s Ice Cube and the BIG3, offering to drop five million reasons why she should come play in their league.

We’ve been saying it, but Caitlin Clark has no shortage of money or offers to give her more moolah in exchange for her talents. Even with going to the WNBA, she’s picking up deals along the way. Now, she’ll have another one to consider. Ice Cube and his BIG3 basketball league want Caitlin to play for them.

According to TMZ, Cube is offering $5 million to Caitlin if she plays eight regular-season games and potentially two playoff games.

After details of the offer leaked, Ice Cube took to X (formerly Twitter) to plead his case and explain why the offer was made.

There’s just one problem: The Big3’s season — which starts in June — runs smack dab in the middle of the WNBA’s season. That means while the offer is substantial, but it’s likely more a gesture to show that the league understands Clark’s value.

Also, the current WNBA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) prioritization clause, which requires players to prioritize the WNBA over other leagues, would complicate Clark’s involvement. This is part of the reason why several players go overseas or play in other leagues during the offseason.

Pair the schedule and CBA restrictions with the major injury risk Caitlin Clark would assume by getting involved with the BIG3, and it’s very easy to see why this is not entirely feasible right now. Things could change in the future, but for the moment, the offer merely brings a lot of positive publicity to the BIG3.

Iowa guard Tony Perkins enters NCAA transfer portal

Another Hawkeye has hit the NCAA transfer portal. Tony Perkins is exiting Iowa City.

Another Iowa guard has entered the transfer portal. Just two days after the Hawkeyes’ season was ended at the hands of Utah in the second round of the NIT, senior guard Tony Perkins has entered into the NCAA transfer portal.

The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman was the first to report the news.

The 6-foot-4 guard played four seasons at Iowa, starting his last two. Over four seasons at Iowa, Perkins accumulated 1,175 points, 398 rebounds and 321 assists.

This past year was his best statistical season for the Hawkeyes, earning career-highs in points (14), assists (4.6), and rebounds (4.4) per game. Perkins was named a second-team All-Big Ten member by the coaches this season.

The decision to use his final year of eligibility elsewhere is not an entirely surprising decision for Perkins following Iowa’s season. The Hawkeyes were knocked out of the Big Ten Tournament early and missed the NCAA Tournament.

Given his success in the Big Ten and his steady improvement over the years, there was bound to be interest in his services for his final season. That heavy interest is already evident with multiple schools having already reached out to him. It would not be surprising to see the Indiana native return back to his home state for his final season.

For the Hawkeyes, this is the second guard to enter the portal after Dasonte Bowen entered his name a week ago. Neither departure is all that surprising to fans, but it certainly does shrink the guard depth for the team.

They have a potential playmaker at point guard in Brock Harding, but then outside of him it’s pretty unknown. Harding himself, while showing tremendous flashes his freshman year, is still an unknown.

It will be interesting to see how Fran McCaffery addresses the team’s need at the guard spots. Does he try to develop from within, or hit the portal himself to find the next man up?

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions.

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Shaq revealed why calling Caitlin Clark the GOAT of women’s basketball was a no-brainer

“Name a woman who’s doing what Caitlin Clark is doing. I don’t know one.”

Shaquille O’Neal is unapologetic about his thoughts on Caitlin Clark.

He recently called her the greatest women’s college hoops player ever, which has caused a lot of debate in basketball circles. The more we thought about it, the more we had one question for him: WHY?

Shaq is not one to beat around the bush. He tells it like it is and stands on his words. So, it wasn’t a shock to hear him chat with the NBA on TNT crew in February about Caitlin Clark and definitively dub her the greatest women’s college basketball player of all time. He immediately received pushback from his colleagues asking him if he’d heard of Cheryl Miller, Maya Moore, Diana Taurasi or Candace Parker. But he didn’t flinch.

While promoting his “How to March Madness” campaign and “Tips from the Tool Shaq” content series with Home Depot, O’Neal recently revealed to For The Win his criteria for calling Clark the greatest women’s hoops player ever to do it.

Here’s what Shaq shared with us about his Caitlin:

“You always have to look at the stats. If a person has 20 [points], they are great. She has 30. Wouldn’t it automatically make her great? I say yeah. The way she plays, shoots and puts her team on the map — nobody has done what she’s done. The reason why Steph Curry is my favorite player is not because he’s bigger and stronger and gotten more done. It’s because nobody has ever done what he’s done.”

“Name a guy who’s ever done what he’s done. Name a woman who’s doing what Caitlin Clark is doing. I don’t know one. I know one that’s close — JuJu Watkins. I’ve never seen anybody play like Miss Caitlin Clark. That’s why I say she’s the best college player ever. It’s all subjective, but it’s just my opinion. Nobody is doing that step-back Steph Curry shot like Caitlin Clark, and she does it every game. [On March 10], she had four points [in the first half] and then came back with 30. That’s greatness right there.”

Caitlin Clark gave the most classy farewell to Iowa fans in last home game with proud parents in stands

Caitlin Clark will always be one of the greats for Iowa basketball.

Iowa women’s basketball legend Caitlin Clark bid farewell to the home crowd on Monday night after she played her last game in Iowa City.

Indeed, Clark made even more women’s NCAA history and led her Hawkeyes to a second-round tournament victory over West Virginia in her home finale before heading on the road for the Sweet 16.

As Clark saluted the Iowa fans in attendance at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, you could see her family in the stands cheering her on as she continued to add to her indisputed legacy in the sport.

It was a very cool moment for Clark, her family, Iowa fans and all basketball fans who have watched one of the greats in her grand finale run for the collegiate level before joining the WNBA.

If you were an Iowa fan, this was a heck of a moment for your school and for one of its all-time great athletes.

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Caitlin Clark finally broke the single-season scoring record in D-1 NCAA women’s basketball

Caitlin Clark is a legend.

Iowa women’s basketball superstar Caitlin Clark has achieved yet another major milestone in her career.

With a free throw late in her team’s second-round game with West Virginia in the 2024 women’s NCAA tournament, Clark notched 1,113 points and passed WNBA star Kelsey Plum for the most points scored in a single women’s Division 1 basketball season.

It’s yet another stunning accomplishment for one of the best college basketball players of all time, as her team also survived a late push from West Virginia to win on Tuesday night and advance to the Sweet 16.

What’s even more impressive is that she’s going to continue to that season-long total and make this record even harder for someone to break.

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Caitlin Clark seemingly dropped an f-bomb to fire up the crowd during Iowa’s second-round game

Caitlin Clark fired up the crowd on Tuesday night.

During Iowa’s tense battle with West Virginia in the second round of the 2024 women’s NCAA tournament on Tuesday night, Hawkeyes superstar Caitlin Clark looks to have issued a NSFW prompt to the crowd to get pumped up for the contest.

The game camera showed Clark seemingly telling the crowd to “Get the [expletive] up!” to fire up the Hawkeyes fans in attendance.

As Clark and her Iowa teammates fought to keep hopes alive in the tournament, a clear title favorite for this year, she wasn’t afraid to say what was exactly was on her mind.

When Clark tells you to get fired up, you listen!

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Caitlin Clark’s dad seemingly telling her to stop complaining about the officials reminded everyone of their dad

Brent Clark seemingly embodied the classic sports dad while watching Caitlin Clark play.

During Iowa’s opening-round game against Holy Cross in the 2024 women’s NCAA tournament, Hawkeyes superstar Caitlin Clark seemingly got some tough love from her dad in the stands.

As it looked like Clark was expressing her frustration over some of the game’s officiating, you could see what certainly looked like Clark’s dad, Brent, yelling at her to knock it off in the stands.

Later, CBS Sports reporter Brad Crawford noticed Brent Clark expressing that Caitlin Clark be taken out of the game after getting an offensive foul and turning the ball over more than a few times.

As Brent Clark has undoubtedly been to plenty of his daughter’s games over the years, it’s not surprising to see him unafraid of expressing his feelings during the game, even to his daughter when he’s not happy with her complaining to the refs.

We’re sure that the Clarks have a very well-established dynamic on the court and in the stands by now, and it’s fascinating to see these two interact with each other in real time as March Madness gets underway.

At the least, college basketball fans felt this moment between the Clarks was so relatable to their own experiences with sports.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN. 

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8 times we told you Caitlin Clark wasn’t going to lose money by joining the WNBA

Enough already. Caitlin Clark isn’t losing money by joining the WNBA.

It’s really a shame that we have to repeat this, but…

NO. CAITLIN CLARK WILL NOT HAVE TO TAKE A SALARY CUT WHEN SHE JOINS THE WNBA.

If that feels a bit over the top, it probably should. For some reason, people think that Caitlin Clark and other big college basketball stars will have to take a pay cut when they join the WNBA. We’re exhausted because not only is that concept wrong, it’s problematic. Yet, here we are again because the conversations started after Clark’s WNBA Draft announcement, and we just want to sigh — loudly.

The largest misconception from some folks is thinking Clark makes her money through Iowa’s collective, which isn’t true at all. It’s through big, national brands like Gatorade and State Farm. They aren’t going to suddenly ditch her when she goes to the W. (Imagine the PR nightmare they’d have on their hands if they did!)

So, once again, for the folks in the back, here are the eight times For The Win and our colleagues across the internet told you this won’t happen: