With the WNBA fresh off a historic season and surge in popularity, UConn coach Geno Auriemma said women's college hoops has a responsibility to continue the momentum.
"We have to keep fanning the flames as we go forward here and not let it die," Auriemma said during Big East media day. "You've got to build on momentum because things don't stay the same forever.
"You reach a certain point where you've got momentum going, you've got to keep putting something underneath it because you're you're going to keep putting something on top of it, right? So you better make sure that there's a solid base … otherwise it's going to collapse -- and then we have to treat it a certain way."
Earlier this month, Auriemma attended Game 2 of the WNBA Finals between the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty at Barclays Center. He was part of a sold-out crowd of 18,040 fans that saw the Liberty, the eventual champions, get an 88-66 win.
Auriemma had former players on both teams with Breanna Stewart (Liberty), Napheesa Collier and Dorka Juhász (Lynx). UConn has been a powerhouse for a long time and has 11 national titles, tied with the UCLA's men's basketball program for the most in Division I basketball. Auriemma has seen plenty of sold-put crowds in Connecticut and wants to see that same popularity for all women's sports.
"I've never said we're better at Connecticut than any place else, but we are different because we've been dealing with this and the unbelievable attention that comes with it for 30 years," Auriemma said. "This is all new to a lot of places, so we have to make sure we help each other understand how to deal with all of this … All of us in women's sports and women's basketball are responsible for that. We need to make sure that we're all really good at what we do so we keep adding to the brand, we don't damage the brand or hold it back in any way, shape or form."
Auriemma gave a lot of credit for the new spark in women's college basketball and the WNBA to former Iowa star Caitlin Clark. During the 2023-24 season, Clark became the all-time NCAA Division I leading scorer while leading the Hawkeyes to a second consecutive national championship game. Clark followed that up by taking the Indiana Fever to their first postseason appearance since 2016 and winning WNBA Rookie of the Year.
"It became okay to put a spotlight on a women's game," Auriemma said. "I think last year's NCAA season and a lot of what Caitlin Clark did brought a lot of attention to the game, and I think the the spotlight then started to go on not just (her) team, not just that player, but this team and this player and then the sport.
"It's like alright, let's start showing more women's soccer games. Let's start talking more about the women's hockey league. All of a sudden, these things become all part of the bigger picture. And then you get all the female athletes that won all the Olympic gold medals over in Paris, so it just became like somebody lit a fire, and it just spread."
