Caitlin Clark's boyfriend, Connor McCaffrey, had the ultimate praise for the Iowa women's basketball star even in their failure to beat Dawn Staley and South Carolina in the NCAA championship.
Following the Hawkeyes' heartbreaking defeat in the title game, McCaffrey quickly took to Instagram to share a powerful message for his partner. Along with a photo of Clark walking off the court after the loss, the former Iowa men's basketball player wrote, “My GOAT.”
McCaffrey certainly couldn't have said it any better, and the timing is just great. After all, prior to the title showdown between Iowa and South Carolina, all the talk had been about whether or not Clark needs to win a title in order to be in the GOAT conversation.
Breanna Stewart, in particular, went viral for her comments saying that Clark needs a championship to cement and solidify her argument as the GOAT of the game, or even be in the conversation among the greats. With the loss, Clark's place in the history of women's college will surely be a hot topic of debates and arguments.
Before the conversation gets out of hand, though, McCaffrey ensured his partner that she is the GOAT in his eyes.
Caitlin Clark is one of the GOATs
Sure enough, Cailtin Clark has the credentials to be the game's GOAT. Basketball Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman said before that Clark's impact to the women's game is comparable to how Michael Jordan elevated the NBA, paving the way for their peers to get more attention and opportunities off the court. Clark is the NCAA overall all-time leading scorer (be it men's or women's), and she has plenty of other records to show how much she has accomplished.
“I'm sure some people will say she has to win a championship and I agree a championship means something. [But] Michael Jordan didn’t win a championship for the first [seven] years he was in the league. What Caitlin has done economically for women – she’s the GOAT. When Michael came into the NBA, very few African American athletes had commercials or endorsements and he changed that. Then everything else, including contracts got bigger. Endorsements got bigger. More people had opportunities to do things,” Lieberman said of Clark early in March, via The Guardian.
In the aftermath Iowa women's basketball's loss to South Carolina, Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley also made sure to give Clark her flowers and proclaim her as one of the GOATs. Prior to Sunday's game, Staley said that a player must win a championship to be in that conversation, agreeing with Breanna Stewart's take. However, Staley appeared to have a change of heart, as she thanked the Hawkeyes guard for helping elevate the sport.
“I really just would like to say that I have to congratulate Iowa on an incredible season, awesome, awesome. And I want to personally thank Caitlin Clark for lifting up our sport. She carried a heavy load for our sport. And it just is not going to stop here on the collegiate tour. But when she is the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft, she's gonna lift that league up as well. So Caitlin Clark, if you're out there, you are one of the GOATs of our games and we appreciate you,” Staley said of Clark.
Clark's legacy as one of the greatest players to play women's college basketball ever is already cemented. Championships, or the lack thereof, shouldn't take that away from her.
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