Caitlin Clark is one of the greatest basketball athletes in college sports. She holds the NCAA record for most points scored and was a celebrated athlete before she arrived in Iowa and did what she did.
However, it would be surprising for one to learn that Geno Auriemma, the head coach of the UConn Huskies, never offered her. In March 2024, during an interview with ESPN, Clark revealed that she was never offered by UConn. Clark said that despite holding offers from Iowa, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Iowa State, Texas and both Oregon schools, she was surprised after no interest from UConn.
“Honestly, it was more I wanted them to recruit me to say I got recruited,” Clark said. I loved UConn. I think they’re the coolest place on Earth, and I wanted to say I got recruited by them. They called my AAU coach a few times, but they never talked to my family and never talked to me.”
Clark was a die-hard UConn fan and dreamed of learning under the tutelage of Auriemma.
“I thought I was going to go to UConn when I was growing up. Obviously, that’s not what happened,” Clark said in a separate interview at the time.
Clark then contemplated between offers from Notre Dame and Iowa. While her family who raised her Catholic wanted her to choose Notre Dame, Clark chose Lisa Bluder’s Iowa.
Geno Auriemma explains reason behind no interest in Caitlin Clark
Geno Auriemma had his reasons for not offering Caitlin Clark. By the time, Clark’s time came, UConn had already offered Paige Bueckers, who plays in the similar position. So it would have been unfair to Bueckers to have another as good a player fighting for the same spot in the lineup.
“It would have been silly for me to say to Paige, ‘Hey, listen, we’re going to put you in the same backcourt and then I’m going to try really hard to recruit Caitlin Clark,’” Auriemma said in April 2024 (via the Wall Street Journal). “I try to lock into who fits with us, try to lock in on them early. That’s what happened with us and Paige.”
“If Caitlin really wanted to come to UConn, she would have called me and said, ‘Coach, I really want to come to UConn,’” Auriemma added.
Clark really made Auriemma pay for overlooking her. During her final two years, she led Iowa to back-to-back national championship game. Meanwhile, Auriemma ended his championship drought with Paige Bueckers a season after Clark departed for WNBA.
College Sports Network has you covered with the latest news, analysis, insights, and trending stories in college football, men’s college basketball, women’s college basketball, and college baseball!
