CLEVELAND — The Women's Final Four gets underway Friday night with the two national semifinals at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Thursday, though, was the day all four teams took their turns talking to the media while also getting a chance to practice in the area. The day started with Iowa and superstar Caitlin Clark speaking at 11:35 a.m., followed by undefeated South Carolina, which is the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament.
Their semifinal opponents — Connecticut and North Carolina State — rounded out the day's news conference.
The semifinals on Friday start with the two-time national champion Gamecocks (36-0) playing the Wolfpack (31-6) at 7 p.m. The nightcap, at approximately 9:30 a.m., pits the Hawkeyes (33-4) against the 11-time national champion Huskies (33-5).
Follow along here for updates throughout Thursday's semifinal media day from Cleveland:
Of course, two Philadelphia guys would have a connection.
Connecticut women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma may have nearly three decades on Browns coach Kevin Stefanski age-wise. However, the two of them share Philadelphia in their blood, which is why there was no surprise that Auriemma had a tie to the NFL coach in the town where he'll coach in his 23rd Final Four.
Of course, that connection starts with Auriemma's connection to Stefanski's dad, Ed. The two were in high school at the same time, with Auriemma at Bishop Kenrick High School and Stefanski at Monsignor Bonner.
That relationship extended to summers in the Philadelphia area after the two established themselves in basketball world. Auriemma was hired at UConn in 1985, while Stefanski's dad played collegiately at Penn and went on to be an executive in the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets and Detroit Pistons.
"Eddie and I played in the same league, in the Philadelphia Catholic League, and by coincidence we had a house, we were next door neighbors in Avalon, New Jersey, during the summer," Auriemma said. "Kevin, I don't know, might've been in high school or something, so he was always down there."
Auriemma has gone on since taking over at UConn to win a record 11 national championships, including six undefeated champions. Only Stanford's Tara VanDerveer has won more women's basketball games than the 1,213 games he's won.
The "high school or something" younger Stefanski who was "always down there" has led the Browns to a pair of playoff appearances in four seasons. He's also won a pair of NFL Coach of the Year awards, including last season.
"There's something in the water in Philly," Auriemma said, "and you're not surprised. You're not surprised."
Like Connecticut, the men's and women's teams from North Carolina State are both in the Final Four this weekend.
Unlike Connecticut, this is a first for North Carolina State. The Wolfpack women's team's only other appearance came in 1998. The men's team last made it in 1983.
"Raleigh has been rocking," junior guard Saniya Rivers said. "Raleigh has been lit."
The women's team secured its Final Four berth Sunday. A few hours later, the Wolfpack watched the men's team earn its berth with a win over Duke.
"They're like are brothers," Rogers said of the men's team. "We support them. They support us."
Connecticut, Iowa and South Carolina making the Final Four isn't a big surprise.
Fewer people likely had North Carolina advancing this far on their brackets.
"We feel kind of like the party crashers," Wolfpack coach Wes Moore said. "I don't know that we got an invitation to this thing, but we're here."
NC State's 31-6 record isn't too shabby. The Wolfpack finished second in the Atlantic Coast Conference, one game behind Virginia Tech.
Moore's team still went into last week's regional in Portland as underdogs. They upset Stanford and No. 1 seed Texas to advance to Cleveland.
"We've been the underdogs since the season started," Rivers said. "It gives us so much motivation ... motivation that we have something to prove. We played all season with a chip on our shoulders.
"It's the same thing now. We're the underdogs. Like Coach said, we're the party crashers and we're coming to crash the party."
Both of UConn's basketball teams are playing in the Final Four this weekend. While the Huskies women's team is in Cleveland, the men's team is in Phoenix trying to become the first back-to-back national champion in men's basketball since Florida in 2006-07.
However, legendary UConn women's coach Geno Auriemma couldn't help but notice the more condensed time frame for his team compared to the men in terms of when they play. The Huskies women played their regional final on Monday in Portland, Oregon, then flew straight to Cleveland so they could go through Thursday's mandatory media availability.
The UConn men's team won its regional final in Boston last Saturday, the same day the women played their regional semifinal against Duke in Portland. The men will play their national semifinal against Alabama on Saturday night, almost 24 hours after the women play Iowa in Friday night's semifinal.
"Look at today, and this is the day before the game, I think on the men's side, they do this two days before the game," Auriemma said. "So at least the day before the game, you just chill and get ready for the game. So there's not enough time to get ready for the game. Like I was telling you earlier, our guys qualify for the Final Four before we even played our first regional game, and then we played before them in the final four. It's just insane.
"So it's tough on, especially on the teams that play Monday night, us and Iowa, it's tough, really tough, but hopefully we can get this changed."
Connecticut has had more than its share of potentially crippling injuries in recent times. This season, especially, has been extra difficult at times.
Star redshirt junior guard Paige Bueckers returned this season from a torn anterior cruciate ligament that cost her the entire 2022-23 season. Beyond that, however, were five players — junior Azzi Ford (knee), freshman Jana El Elfy (Achilles), sophomore Ayanna Patterson (patellar tendonitis), graduate student Aubrey Griffin (knee) and junior Carolina Ducharme (head/neck) — who either didn't play a game this season or were knocked out of the season once it began.
Despite that buzzard's luck, the Huskies won 33 games and, with Monday night's win over No. 1-seeded USC in the Portland 2 regional final, reached the Final Four for the NCAA-record 23rd time.
"When you're dealt with so many things that are unexpected and you're kind of sick of all those injuries and all the challenges thrown your way, I feel like at first it's obviously a shock," senior guard Nika Muhl said. "It's a mourning stage that you have to go through with your team, with yourself. But as the time goes on, you kind of realize that you can either sit here and keep mourning forever, or you can just step up for your team and play for the people that are also on the bench that cannot play. Because, you know, we are very lucky and privileged right now to be able to play and be out there because we know how hard it is to not be able to, especially some people like Paige that have been in that position before."
North Carolina State is in the Final Four for the first time since legendary coach Kay Yow led the Wolfpack there in 1998.
Yow won 737 games during her Hall of Fame career. She became NC State's first full-time women's basketball coach and remained there until her death 2009.
"Kay Yow is iconic," said South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, whose team will face NC State in Friday's semifinals. "I know that she probably has a hand on NC State being here. They've got an angel up in heaven that's still coaching them."
You don't find teams with spotless records that fly under the radar like South Carolina has been.
The Gamecocks are 36-0. They are ranked No. 1 in the country. They are in the Final Four for the fourth straight year. They were national champions in 2022.
Nationwide interest in the Gamecocks isn't at an all-time high, though. Most of the attention for Friday's semifinals has been geared toward the second game between Iowa and Connecticut. South Carolina will square off with North Carolina State in the opener.
Don't think for a second the Gamecocks are bothered by all this.
"I feel like we've noticed that we might not get as much coverage, but we're just so focused on us and want to win every game," said junior guard Bree Hall , a Dayton native. "We want to go out there and perform and execute and play for each other.
"It's not something we're talking about in the locker room, not even remotely close."
No matter how long Iowa's plays in the Final Four, its season will end in Cleveland. Caitlin Clark was asked about ending her career in the same city where LeBron James began his with the Cavaliers in 2004.
"He's somebody I've always idolized," Clark said. "It's cool to be in Cleveland and play here, a place where his career started, and he was able to do so many amazing things."
Clark admitted she had never personally met James. However, the NBA's all-time scoring leader has talked about Division I college basketball's all-time scoring leader before.
It's clear the respect runs mutual between the two elite basketball stars. Clark is especially impressed by James' support for women's basketball.
"He knows what he's talking about," Clark said. "He pays attention. He supports the game. He doesn't just talk about it. Like, he really shows up and supports. I think that's the coolest thing — one of the greatest players of all time really helping support and grow women's basketball. Like, that's exactly what we need."
There may not be much about Iowa star Caitlin Clark that people don't know about by this point. The media attention she's gained over the last year in particular has been such that it's looked into about everything there is to know about her.
Thursday, Clark was asked about why picked 22 for her jersey number. The answer, she acknowledged, wasn't anything super secretive or anything.
"Honestly, I'm not a very creative person," Clark said. "I was born on Jan. 22. It's what I went with when I was about 5 years old."
Iowa's Caitlin Clark and Connecticut's Paige Bueckers will attract the most attention in Friday's semifinal between the Hawkeyes and Huskies. Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said she hopes everyone takes a moment to look beyond them.
"Obviously we have one of the best players in the country on our team, and we're thrilled to have that," Bluder said. "But I do not want this to be a game that's promoted as Caitlin versus Paige. I know it already has been, but I don't want that. I want it to be Iowa versus UConn, and let these two women do what they do best."
Another UConn player the Hawkeyes are fully aware of is point guard Nika Muhl. The Croatian is a two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year.
"She's such a great point guard and she plays so hard defensively, and I think she'll be guarding Caitlin," Bluder said. "She uses her size. She's such a smart basketball player. It does kind of relieve Paige of some of those duties."
9 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.— South Carolina practice (closed, first 15 minutes open to media)
10:50 a.m. – 12:35 p.m. —North Carolina State practice (closed, first 15 minutes open to media)
11:35 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. —Iowa athlete press conference
11:50 a.m. – 12:05 p.m. —Iowa head coach press conference
11:50 a.m. – 12:20 a.m. —Iowa open locker room
12:40 p.m. – 2:25 p.m. —Iowa practice (closed, first 15 minutes open to media)
12:45 p.m. - 1 p.m. —South Carolina athlete press conference
1 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. —South Carolina head coach press conference
1 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. —South Carolina open locker room
1:25 p.m. - 1:40 p.m. —UConn athlete press conference
1:40 p.m. - 1:55 p.m. —UConn head coach press conference
1:40 p.m. - 2:10 p.m. —UConn open locker room
2:35 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. —UConn practice (closed, first 15 minutes open to media)
2:35 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. —North Carolina State athlete press conference
2:50 p.m. – 3:05 p.m. —North Carolina State head coach press conference
2:30 p.m. – 3:20 p.m. —North Carolina State open locker room
4:45 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. —Associated Press Coach and Player of the Year press conference
5:25 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.— WBCA Coach of the Year and Wade Trophy press conference
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ .
Mike Popovich can be reached at mike.popovich@cantonrep.com. Follow him on X at @mpopovichREP.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Women's March Madness live updates: Final Four news conferences
