Iowa’s Caitlin Clark ‘Couldn’t Be Any More Confident’ Entering The NCAA Tournament

We’re nearing the one-year anniversary of when Iowa guard Caitlin Clark became a household name. In back-to-back NCAA tournament games against blue bloods Kentucky and UConn, Clark scored a combined 56 points and stretched the topography of a basketball court in ways few in the world can. Since then, she’s been a mainstay on SportsCenter, Instagram highlight videos, and in the nightmares of her opponents.

Clark’s sophomore revenge may be coming this month, as her Big Ten champion Iowa Hawkeyes finished two games better this season and could be headed toward a 3-seed in the NCAA tournament — or better. Clark took some time after Iowa won the Big Ten tournament to talk with Dime about her supreme confidence heading into the Big Dance and a new partnership with H&R Block.

As part of its “A Fair Shot” campaign, the tax company is giving $1 million to women college athletes this spring through sponsorships and support, while also providing education on tax prep for athletes who’ve signed name, image and likeness deals this year. Clark explained why she partnered with the company and how she’s approached the era of NIL as a college hooper.

Poking around a little bit at the past NIL deals that you’ve put together, they were local, they were different industries, so what excited you when you heard about such a big company that wanted to partner with you on a campaign like this with International Women’s Day and the tournament and everything going on in March, for them to say, We want Caitlin to be one of the faces of this.

I was really honored, but what stood out to me is just like all the companies that I’ve partnered with, they have the same values and align with what I’m passionate about and that’s certainly what H&R Block is doing with this campaign, committing $1 million to give back to female college athletes to shrink the inequities facing college athletes in NIL. This is a new thing, so they’re going to guide us through the tax implications which are something a lot of college athletes (typically) don’t have to deal with.

Has that been your NIL approach, to play things slowly? Have you said no to things that didn’t align with you?

I have said no to a lot of things, with H&R Block, I was very involved with the inequities of last year’s NCAA tournament, so I kind of lived this and that’s what makes me so passionate about it. I thought this was the perfect opportunity with such a great brand that’s doing great things with women’s basketball but a lot of other sports as well. It was an easy yes for me to be part of their team throughout this campaign.

I think I speak for all basketball fans when I say you’ve been on our timelines and our feeds and our screens for two years now, and I imagine that confidence isn’t something that seems to come too difficult for you. But this is a whole other area of life, getting your feet in the business world. Is this something you are comfortable doing? I’m sure it’s a lot to take on, being something of a face for the inequities that this campaign is addressing. Is this as easy for you as scoring 30 might be?

It is something I’m comfortable doing. It’s been a couple years now of being in the spotlight, but being in the spotlight with this issue and using your voice and using your platform is one of the most important things (an athlete can do).

Pivoting a bit, your college decision was a lot about being close to home and being part of a program at Iowa you were comfortable with. It’s gone well, you’ve won and made a name for yourself and put the program in a great spot. How much of the Iowa aspect of your career do you take pride in, (being) the reason that the next Iowa player gets an opportunity that they wouldn’t have otherwise?

That’s a great point. That’s why I came here. I’m a hometown girl, basically, I grew up an hour and 45 minutes away. That speaks to who I am and my values, but the biggest thing is I loved this place overall and that’s why I chose it. I’m really trying to lay the groundwork for those who come after me.

(With this campaign), I had to suffer through these inequities, but we hope that the people who come after us don’t have to deal with the same things. We’re fighting for what we believe in now so that it doesn’t have to be the same issue year after year.

https://twitter.com/IowaWBB/status/1500623533466177543

Sticking on the note of confidence, I feel like the mood within this Iowa team right now must be incredibly positive. Can you give me a sense of your level of confidence and your teammates’ level of confidence is heading onto the big stage of March and getting an opportunity to push toward a title?

I don’t think we could be any more confident right now, obviously we’re playing our best basketball right now, we’re on a seven-game winning streak. Everything’s clicking for us. We had an up and down at the beginning of the season, went through a little COVID pause, but overall we’re playing our best basketball, and this is when you need to play your best basketball. This is when you cut down nets and trophies are handed out, so we’re excited and we’ve enjoyed every single moment over the past two weeks, but we’re really looking forward to the NCAA tournament.

There are going to be a lot more eyes on you and this Iowa team this month than there may have been during the regular season. If people maybe haven’t watched you or Iowa since last year’s tournament, what areas have you and your team improved in that people should have their eye on?

Defensively, we’ve improved a lot. That was our focus during the offseason, and during the Big Ten tournament last week, we played super good defense and I think that’s the reason we won. Our offense is pretty tremendous, but the joy and passion that we play with is what attracts people to our program and makes them want to come to our games. We smile, we go out there and have fun, and we know it’s a game, but at the end of the day, we want to win.