Iowa’s Kylie Feuerbach will always consider Caitlin Clark a teammate, whether she’s at concerts or hanging out with Taylor Swift at an NFL game.
Feuerbach laughs whenever she sees Clark in the media.
“We talk about this all the time, but it’s crazy, because you don’t really realize it until you start seeing all the Instagram posts or news (headlines), whatever it is, because obviously we know her as a friend and a teammate,” said Feuerbach, a senior guard for the Hawkeyes.
“So seeing her at that level, it’s kind of just out of this world, but it’s crazy. It’s awesome to see all the publicity she gets. Obviously, she deserves it, and she’s worked really hard to where she’s at now.”
Clark is returning to the place where she became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I history, both men’s and women’s, and led the Hawkeyes to the NCAA national championship game the last two seasons while winning the national player of the year award twice. On Sunday, Clark will have her jersey number 22 retired in a ceremony at Carver-Hawkeye Arena after Iowa’s game against No. 4 USC.
For the Hawkeyes, the first season without Clark has been “unique,” said coach Jan Jensen. The Hawkeyes are 14-7 overall and 4-6 in the Big Ten in Jensen’s first season as head coach. Iowa started the season 12-2 and was ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 before a five-game losing streak knocked them out of the rankings and put their NCAA Tournament hopes in jeopardy.
Jensen, who was an assistant coach since 2000 and took over the team in May when Lisa Bluder retired, said, “This whole year has been unique,” mentioning the loss of key players like Clark, Kate Martin, Gabbie Marshall, Sharon Goodman, and Molly Davis from last season’s team that lost to South Carolina in the national title game.
Jensen also noted the departures of Bluder and longtime assistant coach Jenni Fitzgerald. “There’s been a lot of firsts, and a lot of different situations that we’ve been navigating.”
Sunday’s game is a sellout— Iowa sold out its public season tickets for the second consecutive year, even without Clark returning. But, the increased attention on the game is something many of the Hawkeyes are used to, having gone through the last couple of seasons with all of the media focus on Clark.
“We play out in front of a sold-out crowd almost every home game, and it’s no different,” said guard Sydney Affolter. “We just say, ‘Focus on the game.’ There’s going to be a lot of outside noise and a lot of things going on, which is really great and cool, but obviously we want to use that to our advantage, and use the crowd and everything that we can to beat USC, and that’s going to be our main focus.”
The Hawkeyes have won two straight games. They close the regular season with a schedule that includes home games against USC and top-ranked UCLA, along with a road game against No. 8 Ohio State.
“We’ve had the same mentality every single day, which I think is what strengthened us,” Feuerbach said. “We’ve really, really stayed together, trusted in our work, and we knew that, like Coach J would say, the shore was near.”
Clark attended one other game this season, on Nov. 17 in Des Moines, when the Hawkeyes defeated Drake 86-73. She kept a low profile during that game.
“I didn’t even know she was there until after,” said Feuerbach, laughing.
But if Clark is courtside on Sunday, her former teammates expect to hear from her— just like in her playing days.
“Wherever Caitlin’s at, she brings the energy,” Feuerbach said. “She lights up a room with her energy, vocal communication, whatever it may be.”
Clark’s rise from a highly-touted high school recruit to being an “A-lister,” as Jensen called her, has been fun to watch.
“I’m just forever blessed that I got to be part of her ride,” Jensen said. “She’ll always be part of us. Just like I’ve said before — Michael Jordan will forever be Carolina blue, Caitlin will forever be Hawkeye black and gold.”
