Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes recently edged out the West Virginia Mountaineers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Hawkeyes recorded a 64-54 win over the Mountaineers, with Clark scoring 32 points, three assists, and eight rebounds. The game was a particularly tough one for the Hawkeyes as Caitlin Clark was seen routinely getting roughed by the West Virginia players to stop her advancing offense.
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Clark was noted getting seemingly emotional during and after the game, which earned her significant backlash from her fans. As much as the basketball community loves Caitlin Clark, she is also seemingly becoming a polarizing figure amongst her fans. Carmelo Anthony recently discussed this topic on the ‘7 PM in Brooklyn‘ podcast and remarked that the hate against the Hawkeyes star was unjustified.
Melo was particularly disturbed by how the West Virginia players roughed up Clark, and the referees ignored all calls on her during the entire game. On that note, it was justified for Clark to feel her emotions during the game, which gave no fan the right to hate her. Melo’s co-host on the podcast, Kid-Mero, commented, “They are hitting her with the Jordan Rules,” trying to suggest how Caitlin Clark’s offensive bag required a rough defensive setup from her opponent teams.
According to Melo, it was justified only for Clark’s father to either console or call her daughter out in such a situation to get her back into the game. Being a father, Melo understood this sentiment quite well. Explaining a similar scenario with his son, Melo explained,
“I could talk to him [Melo’s son] like, ‘Yo, what the f**k are we doing?’ because we built that aura. Like, I don’t have to say much to him in the games. Like he knows, I just give him a head, you know, ‘Alright, cool, what we doing?’ little s**t. But you know, if I have to like ‘Yo! What is we doing?’ then he knows he must be f**king up. Cause he ain’t going to bark on me like that. So, I felt where Caitlin’s pops is coming from.”
Clark’s father, Brent Clark, has been by her since day one of her basketball career. Clark even regards her fiery competitive spirit as having been inculcated by her dad. Brent Clark’s coaching style has helped Caitlin push through her limits and achieve accolades previously unheard of in women’s basketball.
The Iowa Hawkeyes march past their Sweet Sixteen matchup onto Elite 8
The Iowa Hawkeyes marked a blowout 64-54 victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers to mark their victory past the Sweet Sixteen stage. The game sure wasn’t an easy win for the Hawkeyes. However, it was something that the Hawkeyes had to be used to since their last two features in the NCAA tournaments. Previously, 10th seed Creighton in 2022 and Georgia in last season ejected the Hawkeyes out of the tournament following the second round.
As the Hawkeyes march onto the Elite 8, they will face Angel Reese and the LSU Tigers for this next stage. The LSU currently leads Division I in getting to the foul line and is the top conference team in rebounding. Though Caitlin Clark is supported by her fellow sharpshooter teammates Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall, it would be interesting to see how the Hawkeyes fare against the LSU team that won the championship last season.
