Barry Tompkins: Women’s basketball has come a long way
Like seemingly everyone else in America, I was glued to the television this past weekend absolutely mesmerized by watching the growth, the passion, and the talent level of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament – or, more appropriately: Women’s March Madness.
It took me back to a time that I believe was somewhere between the Bronze Age and the Ice Age. I was doing sports at KPIX when the Golden State Warriors (nee San Francisco Warriors) drafted, in the 13th round, Denise Long from Union Whitten High School in Whitten, Iowa.
It was the first time a woman had been drafted by an NBA team, and while then Warriors owner Franklin Mieuli really didn’t expect Denise to be a contributing member of his team, in his own way he was way ahead of his time in recognizing that the game was not the sole possession of the male species.
The fact is, the pick was voided by the NBA, not for sexist reasons (they insist), but for the fact that at the time it was not allowable to draft anyone directly out of high school.
The women’s game at that point was played only in the half-court, and defense was only a rumor. Denise Long had multiple 100- point scoring games at Union-Whitten. The gym was filled with all 34 students who attended the school.
Franklin Mieuli brought Denise and her sister (also an accomplished Iowa player) to the City for a press conference after the draft. Being the intrepid reporter that I imagined I was, I thought it would be fun to show the Bay Area the skills of the Long sisters. So Franklin and I suited up and played a two-on-two game with them. We won.
I was always a jock, but never a good one. My basketball skills ceased to exist after playing center on my junior high school team at 5’7” and then never growing an inch again. Suddenly the team manager could post me up. Franklin Mieuli was probably well into his 50’s at the time and beyond owning the team, his shooting skills were limited to a game of eight-ball.
We won that game for the sole reason that Denise and her sister were so nervous they couldn’t throw it in the ocean.
I bring this up because I really believe the old advertising slogan “You’ve come a long way baby,” was used decades too soon. The difference in what I experienced back in 1969 and what’s going on now is the difference between a Model T and a Supersonic jet.
Over 12 million people watched the game between Iowa and LSU on Monday night. By far the largest audience ever for a women’s game, more than every World Series game, and almost twice the ratings of the men’s elite eight games.
It’s not by accident.
I’ve been calling boxing on television for decades, and I’m always asked the comparison between boxing and MMA. The fact is, there is none. They are two different sports and cater to two different audience bases. I think the same holds true for women’s hoops. It’s not men’s hoops – it is its own entity. And right now, it’s a more watchable product at the higher levels then the men’s game.
It begins, but doesn’t end, with Caitlin Clark. To be honest, while I read all the platitudes, and saw the eye-popping numbers she’s put up in her time at Iowa, I hadn’t really watched her game until last week.
Dallas’ Luka Doncic was asked if he thought Caitlin Clark was a better shooter than he was and he smiled and said “Me? She might be as good as Steph Curry.” And I saw a lot of similar skills.
Yes, she can shoot. Really well. But, like Steph Curry, it’s the nuance in her game that sets her apart from anyone else on the floor. She’s as good a passer as anyone I’ve seen at any level – man or woman. She anticipates, she sees the floor and she has the innate ability to put in on the deck and take it to the basket or simply step back and shoot it. Her range is Curry-like. And finally, one of the first things any coach tells a potential shooter is to get your feet set. Clark doesn’t have to. She scores leaping sideways, off balance, falling away.
Franklin Mieuli was about 55 years too early in drafting a female hoopster from Iowa. Caitlin Clark is the real deal.
And she’s got plenty of company. There suddenly is so much talent in women’s basketball that historically prominent teams are starting to look over their shoulder at the one time also-rans.
You could shoot a cannon through the Galen Center at USC a couple of years ago and not hit anyone. Now the Trojans are a tough ticket, were seeded number one in the tournament this year, have the national freshman of the year in JuJu Watkins, and the number one recruiting class in the country coming aboard next year.
In years past, Stanford would have likely been a final four participant with the talent they have up front. Not anymore. Lack of backcourt scoring won’t get it done any longer.
The coaching is so much better than it has been it boggles my mind. Up and down the soon to be two-team Pac-12, there were good coaches. It used to be Tara VanDerveer and everybody else. Dawn Staley has emerged as one of the best, and Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma continues to put together great teams. Even LSU’s Kim Mulkey, despite dressing like she raided Liberace’s closet, can coach.
Add to that the fact that women’s junior programs actually teach young girls how to play basketball, and now there’s a depth to the game that goes beyond running the floor and throwing it down.
If you haven’t discovered the women’s game yet, you’ve got another chance this weekend. Three great teams and an upstart compose the final four. It’s compelling television.
Me, Denise Long, and the 34-person student body of Grant-Whitten High School in 1969, will all be watching. And thinking the same thing,
They’ve come a long way baby.
Barry Tompkins is a 40-year network television sportscaster and a San Francisco native. Email him at barrytompkins1@gmail.com.