Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark has quickly grown into one of the most popular stars in all of sports. And while that has its perks, it also seemingly comes with a lot of pressure, which she admitted she is feeling ahead of her team’s Sweet 16 matchup on Saturday in the Women’s NCAA Tournament.
Clark and the Hawkeyes are set to face off against the No. 5 seeded Colorado Buffaloes, who are the best team that they have faced on paper in the tournament thus far.
With all that Clark provides to her team night in and night out, you would expect that she certainly feels the pressure of the majority of the weight being on her shoulders.
In a conversation with ESPN’s Holly Rowe, Clark openly admitted that she is feeling the pressure, particularly due to the huge fanbase that she has obtained in her time at Iowa.
“We were able to sit down with Caitlin on Friday,” said Rowe during an on-court interview for College Gameday Saturday. “She said she does feel pressure to perform. People are coming and spending a lot of money to watch her play basketball. She is very aware of that and wants to be at her best.”
.@sportsiren says that Caitlin Clark feels pressure to perform heading into the Sweet 16 👀 pic.twitter.com/wfNIXm1VFx
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) March 30, 2024
Clark did add that she has relied on her teammates whenever she gets “overwhelmed” by the pressure. So it is at least nice to hear that she has a support system throughout the team’s tournament run.
It’s understandable for someone like Clark to be feeling the pressure at this point in the year. Clark and Iowa have everything to lose in this situation, as everyone is expecting for them to make a deep tournament run.
They will need to get by Colorado to do so. And a big performance from Clark could go a very long way in making that a reality.
