'Shines on all of us': Caitlin Clark's Iowa teammates take in Women's Final Four spotlight

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'Shines on all of us': Caitlin Clark's Iowa teammates take in Women's Final Four spotlight

CLEVELAND, OHIO - APRIL 04: Hannah Stuelke #45 of the Iowa Hawkeyes speaks to media during open locker rooms ahead of the 2024 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Final Four at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on April 04, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Chris Easterling, Akron Beacon Journal · Akron Beacon Journal

Fri, Apr 5, 2024 ·

5 min read

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CLEVELAND — There were seemingly a hundred different faces standing in front of Iowa's Hannah Stuelke inside of the Hawkeyes' cramped locker room Thursday at Rocket Mortgage Field House . Every one of them more unfamiliar than the next to the sophomore forward.

As those faces started to dwindle, Stuelke saw a face she recognized from one of the Iowa newspapers. Before she answer the question asked of her by him, she took a moment to acknowledge the face from home.

"It's nice seeing friendly faces like yourself," Stuelke said. "But it is a lot of people in here right now and it's not really a big room, but, yeah, it's crazy."

Welcome to life as part of the biggest traveling show in college athletics, one which has made its final stop of the season in Cleveland this weekend for the Women's Final Four . Welcome to life as a teammate of Iowa star Caitlin Clark.

Women's college basketball scene this season has been lifted to heights previously unseen by a lengthy list of supernova-like stars. There has been no star that has shined brighter than any of the rest than that of Clark, who has transcended the sport like very few who have preceded her.

Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark (22) and Iowa Hawkeyes guard Kate Martin (20) take questions at Rocket Mortgage Arena, Thursday, April 4, 2024 in Cleveland.

Clark, who won the Associated Press Women's College Basketball Player of the Year trophy Thursday, has rewritten the record books, and not just for scoring. She also re-set levels of viewership for the sport, including the 12.3 million viewers for the Hawkeyes' regional final win over LSU on Monday.

Behind Clark has been a group of teammates like Stuelke who may not be the force of nature she is in the sport. However, they've also had their own hands on the wheel as Iowa's season has careened its way to a return trip to the Final Four and Friday's semifinal against Connecticut (33-5).

"I think that goes for, I think I'm speaking for our entire team, and that's what we're the most proud of, the way we've carried ourselves through this entire process," Clark said. "I think that's additionally allowed us to have so much success on the court, just the team and the family we've built over the past four years. And that speaks to the way (Iowa coach Lisa) Bluder has built this program. … For me, that's the coolest thing. I've had so many amazing life opportunities and created so many memories with some of my best friends, and those are the things that will last forever."

Clark's name isn't just the brightest one on the marquee when Iowa plays. It's the one that basically tops almost every statistical category for the team: scoring (31.9 points per game), field throw percentage (.858), 3-pointers per game (5.24), rebounding (7.3), assists (8.9), steals (1.76) and double-doubles (21).

Stuelke does lead Iowa in field goal percentage at .643. Molly Davis, a fifth-year guard, is tops in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.51.

CLEVELAND, OHIO - APRIL 04: Caitlin Clark #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes speaks to media during open locker rooms ahead of the 2024 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Final Four at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on April 04, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

None of that, though, matters for those who may appear to be in the shadow of the all-time scoring leader in all of college basketball. Exhibit A for that was Thursday's scene inside Iowa's locker room, where every Hawkeye player had what seemed like a dozen media members around her at the same time Clark was in a completely different part of the arena speaking to a separate horde of media.

"We talk about all the time when Caitlin's light shines, it shines on all of us," guard Kate Martin said. "We're really lucky for the media attention that we get because it's continuing to grow the game. So that's super special and that's super cool."

Martin may understand the phenomena as well as anyone. She has started 137 consecutive games alongside Clark, which is the most for any pair of Division I college players in 25 years.

Clark's star shined bright from day one on Iowa's campus in the fall of 2020, when she ended up leading the Big Ten in scoring as a freshman. That light only turned into the glare of dozens of cameras this season, after many non-women's college basketball fans were introduced to her in their run to the national championship game.

Even before that, the crescendo was noticeable to Clark's teammates. Fellow senior Gabbie Marshall saw it once the postseason last season started in earnest with the Big Ten Tournament.

Iowa Hawkeyes guard Gabbie Marshall (24) takes questions at Rocket Mortgage Arena, Thursday, April 4, 2024 in Cleveland.

That followed them to Seattle for the last year's regionals, then on to Dallas for the Final Four. It has carried on into this season, where they have played in front of sell-out crowds all 37 games to this point, with another one coming Friday night.

"I am just looking around," Marshall said. "This is insane. I mean, our fan support is crazy, but seeing it in opposing arenas just took it to another level."

So how, exactly, does someone get away from all of that noise? Where do you find a respite when, around every corner, seems to be more cameras?

"I think just spending time in our hotel rooms when we get home, or the time in between media and practice," Stuelke said. "We'll have time to just take a deep breath and get back to it."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ .

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Caitlin Clark's Iowa teammates bask in Women's Final Four spotlight

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