UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma once said he agrees with former college basketball star Cameron Brink’s take on WNBA rookies. In June 2024, during an episode of the “Dan Patrick Show,” Auriemma seconded Brink’s opinion that WNBA rookies, such as herself, Caitlin Clark, and Angel Reese, were expected to be perfect.
During the 2024 WNBA season, a lot of expectations were placed on Brink, Clark, and Reese, among other rookies, to perform well against WNBA veterans, as they were hailed as one of the best WNBA rookie classes of all time.
“I thought Cameron Brink said something really smart. She said now they’re expecting this rookie class to be perfect. This rookie class isn’t even one of the best rookie classes in the last 10 years. But they’ve been put out to be that because of the way social media is today,” Auriemma said (1:55).
“The delusional fanbase that follows her disrespected the #WNBA players by saying she’s going to go in that league and tear it a part… The kid was set up for failure right from the beginning.”
-Geno Auriemma talks Caitlin Clark pic.twitter.com/HkBwKuVS4E
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) June 6, 2024
In June 2024, Megan Armstrong of UPROXX published an article and quoted Cameron Brink, who opened up about the high expectations placed on rookies. Brink used former Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark as an example and said:
“The most tired narrative is that the vets are against the rookies, this old school versus new school narrative, and the narrative that the rookies need to be perfect. I feel like Caitlin Clark has that the worst right now, but even I get that. We’re expected to be perfect.”
“We were drafted to high-drafting teams coming off of losing seasons, which is fine. It’s a learning process. But people expect us to be perfect, and it’s freaking exhausting. I feel like we learn how to tune it out, but still, it’s unrealistic, and it kind of just shows that people don’t know basketball,” Brink added.
Auriemma is coming off a 2024-25 season in which he and the Huskies won their 12th national championship with an 82-59 win over the 2024 national champions, South Carolina Gamecocks, in the 2025 NCAA title game.
Brink, meanwhile, is in her second year with the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA.
Cameron Brink is set to return from her left ACL injury
After being ruled out for the remainder of her rookie season after just 15 games due to an ACL injury on her left knee, Cameron Brink is set to return to action after over a year of recovery for coach Lynne Roberts’ Los Angeles Sparks.
Brink will make her sophomore debut in the 2025 WNBA season on Tuesday, July 29, against the Las Vegas Aces in a home regular-season game.
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