Legendary women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma knows real reason behind Caitlin Clark's popularity

Basketball Hall of Famer and legendary Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma put himself in the crosshairs of Caitlin Clark fans this week by comparing her unfavorably to his former star, Paige Bueckers.

Speaking on Sirius/XM's Mad Dog Sports Radio on Thursday, Auriemma pointed out that Bueckers actually beat out her Iowa rival, Clark, for the national awards when the two were freshman in 2020-21.

'Caitlin and Paige were both freshmen in the same year, and that freshman year was the [COVID-19] year,' the 72-year-old Auriemma said. 'Paige won every single award there was to win. The first freshman ever in history to win every award. And if you were to say, 'Hey, who is the face of women's basketball?' You would say Paige Bueckers.

'No one mentioned Caitlin Clark as a freshman,' Auriemma continued. 'Through circumstances, Paige didn't play, she missed a whole year [due to injury], and Caitlin decided to start shooting from the logo and the place erupts.'

It was Clark's Stephen Curry-like shooting range that captured the imagination of basketball fans, Auriemma continued.

'And it becomes a phenomenon, not because she was a better player than anyone who had come before,' he said, 'but because she was taking shots that people in their right mind wouldn't even take, much less make. She was doing something that no one had done before.'

These days, Clark ranks third in the WNBA and second on the Indiana Fever with a 21.9 points-per-game average, while Dallas' Buckers is seventh in the league at 20.5 points a game. Bueckers has been slightly more accurate from 3-point range (38.4 percent accuracy compared to Clark's 35.7), while the Indiana star has been more prolific (2.7 made 3-pointers a game compared to 1.8).

Clark supporters were left furious by Auriemma, who famously passed on recruiting Clark because he'd already gotten a commitment from Bueckers in 2019.

'Dude whiffed on recruiting the best player 6 years ago and can’t get over it,' read an X post from an Auriemma critic. 

'Before Caitlin, no player in women's college basketball history had ever led the country in both scoring and assists,' another added. If she wasn't better than other greats, she wouldn't have been the first to do that.'

'What is this guy's deal?' one asked. 'Always comes off so bitter. He can't accept that the best college player wasn't a husky, so he downplays her every chance he gets.'

Auriemma's latest comments come roughly a month after he dismissed the WNBA controversy over hard fouls on Clark, whose fans feel she is being targeted by jealous rivals.

To Auriemma, the debate has been an exhausting culture war that is unrelated to the game of basketball.

'So instead of it becoming Caitlin Clark gets fouled hard - no s*** every first round draft pick gets fouled hard,' Auriemma said on Richard Deitsch's podcast. 'Not every foul is a good foul. Not every foul's a bad foul. But there are fouls that are flagrant. But that's all they are. They are not a referendum on America, which is what the whole goddamn thing has become. A foul is a foul, right?'