OSU legend Katie Smith admires fearlessness of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark in women's Final Four

CLEVELAND — As Caitlin Clark started the fire that led to the popularity explosion of women’s basketball, Katie Smith’s dreams of turning back the clock were fleeting.

The all-time scoring records, the victories, the idolization of Iowa senior sharpshooter Clark prompted Ohio legend Smith to think, “Man, that would have been fun.” But the “different beast” of social media that accompanies such status jerked her back with the notion of “I’m so glad I didn’t have to deal with that.”

Naismith Hall of Famer Smith, 49, is going into her fifth season on the bench of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, her third as associate head coach and her 11th as a league assistant. She isn’t sure the logo 3s that have become Clark’s trademark would have drawn the approval of Nancy Darsch, Smith’s coach at Ohio State from 1992-96 as the Buckeyes made two NCAA appearances, including a national runner-up finish in 1993.

But as one prolific scorer watches another, including from the stands Friday as Iowa took on Connecticut in the Women’s Final Four semifinals at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, one trait of Clark’s stands out to Smith.

“As other people have said, you have to be a little fearless to play this game,” Smith said in a phone interview Tuesday. “You can’t be 'paralysis by analysis.' You can’t think too much about ‘What if? What if it doesn’t?’ You have to kind of trust what you’ve done and go out and let it loose. That’s part of what makes her great is that fearlessness … and a lot of time she has success.”

Playing 15 seasons in the WNBA and two more with the American Basketball League’s Columbus Quest, Smith sees one striking similarity between herself and Clark. But it’s about their journey, not their basketball prowess.

Smith is a native of Logan, Ohio, where she started playing basketball at age 5 and her family still lives. Smith chose to stay home and attend Ohio State, where she and one of her brothers reside. Clark is from West Des Moines, Iowa, and was recruited by Notre Dame, Texas and Oregon, among others. After initially committing to the Irish, Clark picked Iowa.

“I similarly chose Ohio State like how she chose Iowa. It’s because of the connection,” Smith said. “Hopefully we can win some games, that was the goal, but it was also to share it with and build relationships that would last way longer than the four years that you spent.

“It makes me laugh sometimes because it was similar … you stay at home for a lot of reasons. It isn’t just basketball, it’s bigger than that. Obviously, it’s paid off for her. It’s paid off for me, too. My connections and connections to the university and the state and people are a lot bigger and more impactful just because of being an Ohio kid who stayed in Ohio.”

In the twilight of her college career, Clark realizes the unforeseen bonuses of playing for the Hawkeyes.

“Yeah, absolutely. I don't know if my career goes as it is if I don't stay at Iowa,” Clark said Thursday. “One of the things I loved about Iowa when I committed there is the way people supported women's basketball; they've always gotten great crowds. Obviously, it's kind of on a whole different level with us selling out every single game.

“When you're a kid from the state of Iowa, the state's probably going to rally around you a little different. That’s something I'm forever thankful for. That's a place that I can always go back to and be proud of and go to games there, go back to where I grew up. It probably means a little more for them, but it means a little more for myself as well.”

Also a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, Smith is amazed at the attention players like Clark, Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers, LSU’s Angel Reese and USC freshman JuJu Watkins received this season. Monday’s regional final between Iowa and LSU drew a women’s college basketball record 12.3 million viewers on ESPN. That surpassed all but one of the five games in the 2023 NBA Finals and the clinching game of the 2023 World Series.

“These women are like rock stars,” Smith said. “It’s phenomenal that they’re earning the admiration, even the boos and the dislike. That’s what sports is all about. It’s wonderful when half of the arena is cheering for you and the other half is booing you every time you foul. That means you’ve made it.

“I’m such a fan of what they’re doing. I just want to make sure that this generation of young women — I think they are — are pretty fearless about pushing the game forward and making sure they’re leaving it better than they found it. That’s really what we all want in our own way, making sure we’re doing our part to make sure these opportunities continue to grow and get better and it just keeps blowing up.”

Smith hopes interest won’t wane when Clark and others move on to the WNBA.

“You don’t know. After Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird and those guys and then Stewie (Breanna Stewart), there’s always hopefully somebody in that pipeline that is not only talented but also gets it and has a personality or a story that connects,” Smith said. “I like to believe it’s there. Who it is, sometimes you don’t even know. Caitlin came out of her home school. There’s girls and young women out there doing their thing that we don’t even know yet.

“These kids, they play so much and are so talented and athletic, there’s going to be another player/personality that is going to hopefully continue to garner that attention and get people talking. Caitlin is obviously very, very special in what she’s been able to do and the attention she’s gotten.”

A self-described “basketball lifer,” Smith said she has no plans to retire from coaching. She spends six months a year in Minneapolis working with Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve, also president of basketball operations.

Smith said she believes the rabid excitement over women’s college basketball will translate to the WNBA. She’s already looking forward to Lynx home games July 14 and Aug. 24 against the Indiana Fever, which holds the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft and will land Clark. In 2023, Smith said Iowa State fans made the commute to the Target Center to watch Ashley Joens, now with the Phoenix Mercury.

“I’m sure when Caitlin comes to town with Indiana that most of Iowa will be driving up the road,” Smith said.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Ohio legend Katie Smith, Iowa's Caitlin Clark share similar journeys