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UConn coach Geno Auriemma was under scrutiny again from Caitlin Clark’s fans after claiming that Paige Bueckers doesn’t have to win an NCAA championship to certify her greatness. Auriemma and Clark’s supporters have never been on the same page because of the legendary women’s basketball coach’s past comments on the Indiana Fever star.
Auriemma has critiqued her several times and has given diplomatic answers about her greatness in her fans’ views. As debates continue to pick steam about who the more influential and better player is between Clark and Bueckers, Auriemma stood by his program’s star player in a recent interview and has received flak for it.
Auriemma claimed the Bueckers’ recognition as a generational player shouldn’t be attributed to her success at the NCAA level. He reasoned that several players in the past have been deemed great despite not winning a national championship, and Bueckers shouldn’t be an exception.
The most winningest coach in women’s college basketball history also said that Bueckers doesn’t have the help she needs at UConn after never playing with an All-American player.
Caitlin Clark’s fans used Geno Auriemma’s latest interview to call him out on his previous criticism of the Fever player and change the standards to elevate Paige Bueckers’ status. Many believed Auriemma was indirectly forced to defend Clark’s lack of title success because of the same reasons he used to justify Bueckers not winning a championship at UConn.
One fan wrote:
“So what im hearing is that he admits CC is the goat.”
Another tweeted:
“And now he finds Paige in the same predicament as CC and needs to backtrack so that his prodigy gets the recognition he deserves without a natty,” another added.
“This is as close to an apology to Caitlin Clark and her fans as we will ever get,” one fan said.
“It’s funny how when it comes to Paige, everybody becomes reasonable again,” one fan wrote.
“Goalposts being moved I see,” another added.
Caitlin Clark proved Geno Auriemma’s wrong after stellar WNBA rookie season
Geno Auriemma made bold claims about Caitlin Clark’s game not translating at the WNBA level, saying the former Iowa guard would struggle on many fronts. Auriemma was infuriated, especially at Clark’s fanbase, for believing she was an MVP candidate in her rookie year.
The UConn coach said in June on The Dan Patrick Show that it was ‘delusional’ of her fans to believe that was a real possibility. However, Clark finished fourth in MVP voting behind A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.
He doubled down on Diana Taurasi’s comments that Clark was on the wrong team and didn’t have the skill set to match the WNBA’s physicality. However, Clark did just fine as she got used to the pros after every game. She led the Fever to a 20-20 record and their first playoff appearance in eight years.
Auriemma also claimed Paige Bueckers was a better distributor than Caitlin Clark. The Fever star had the perfect response to that criticism as she averaged 8.4 assists per game, the highest in the WNBA.
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Edited by Arhaan Raje
