Caitlin Clark may have ended Angel Reese’s college career, but she’s arguably gotten off to a better start in the WNBA.
At least, that’s how legendary University of South Carolina coach Dawn Staley sees the WNBA Rookie of the Year race with about two months left in the regular season.
“They’re both having great years, don’t get me wrong.” Staley told TMZ Sports. “If I were to pick a rookie of the year at this point…today it’s Angel. No question about it. She got a double-double.”
Reese is coming off a WNBA-record 15 consecutive double-doubles for the Chicago Sky (9-13), averaging 13.8 points and 11.8 rebounds per game.
Meanwhile, Clark is averaging 16.8 points, 7.8 assists and 5.9 rebounds per game for the Indiana Fever (10-14), who have won two of their three meetings against the Sky and have won three straight overall.
“Look, the season is half over and Kaitlyn’s coming up,” Staley said. “I’ll say, ‘Whichever team makes the playoffs, that’s our Rookie of the Year.’
Earlier this year, Clark’s Iowa team defeated Reese’s LSU in the Elite Eight of the women’s NCAA tournament.
Iowa defeated Connecticut in the Final Four before losing to Coach Staley’s South Carolina in the national championship game.
It marks the second consecutive year that Iowa State has lost in the finals, having lost to Reese and Louisiana State in 2023. It is Staley’s third national title with South Carolina.
Staley isn’t worried that the exodus of arena-filling stars, including Clark, to the WNBA will cause interest in women’s college basketball to drop to historical levels.
“The game isn’t going anywhere,” she said. “The game has been great for a long time, and I think the decision-makers and the people who put resources into the game decided to put in someone who deserves it, like Caitlin Clark.”
“We have some stars out there right now, I coach Milecia Fulwilli. Juju. [Watkins of USC] “We have a lot of big names. We have Hannah Hidalgo at Notre Dame. We have a lot of young, well-known players. If we put the kind of resources into it that we’ve put into it the last two years, our sport can stand on its own two feet.”
