YouTube Gold: Coach K On Caitlin Clark

You can safely count him as an admirer

You may remember that a few months ago, Mike Krzyzewski had Caitlin Clark on his SiriusXM show Basketball and Beyond and expressed his immense admiration for her, saying that “I’d love to coach you.”

It was a really nice endorsement that may have meant a lot to her given the icy reception she’s gotten in the WNBA from some less than enthusiastic colleagues.

She was also left off the Olympic team, which has been interesting. Coach K compares her Olympic experience to Kevin Durant, who nearly made the team in 2008 before becoming the star of the national team shortly thereafter (he was on the Select Team in 2008).

He says that he admires how Clark has handled things so far, including her Olympic snub.

Snub might not be the right word, but it looks like the powers that be missed an opportunity when they left her off the team.

Did you see the Asian fan who held up a sign saying “You Need Caitlin Clark?”

He could be an American obviously but what if he’s not? What if he’s in Paris for the Olympics from, say Japan, and is dying to see Caitlin Clark?

Apparently women’s basketball has not been drawing enormous crowds and if Clark were there, at this inflection point for women's basketball, women’s basketball might have become one the biggest stories in the Olympics.

That’s the missed opportunity.

We said before there is a solid argument for waiting for her turn but more and more it looks like leaving one of the best players and the biggest draw globally off the team was an enormous miscalculation.

By the way, the other part of this video that’s worth mentioning is that Coach K loves how Clark passes. He’s not wrong there. She’s a prodigy all around but her passing is next level.