“One more year! One more year! One more year!”

Thousands of voices chanted for Iowa women’s basketball player Caitlin Clark to use her fifth year of eligibility during a live conversation between the point guard, ESPN talent Stephen A. Smith, and media executive and University of Iowa alum Mark Shapiro.

The conversation on the Pentacrest Friday night was a part of the university’s homecoming celebration.

Lucas Garcia-Bandera, a UI second-year student, was in the crowd on Friday night. He went to the homecoming parade and festivities last year but said this year’s celebration seemed to have higher attendance.

Garcia-Bandera credited Smith and Shapiro for coming and said their presence on campus shows that Iowa “is involved” and helps further promote Clark and Hawkeye sports to the rest of the nation.

“I think Caitlin Clark is a generational player and she has provided a pathway for many, many athletes, young and old,” Garcia-Bandera said. “She’s changing sports in Iowa.”

It was the first Hawkeye homecoming celebration for graduate student Lexi Tofanelli, who is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and transferred to Iowa ahead of this school year.

She said she had heard all about Clark before she moved to Iowa and called the point guard’s game “electric.”

Tofanelli was not the only one in attendance unfamiliar with the Midwest as it was Smith’s first time in the Hawkeye State.

The face of ESPN spent his Friday morning filming his debate show “First Take” in UI Adler Journalism Building TV studio and giving career and life advice to a group of journalism students.

Smith called Iowa City a “great sports town” with a “phenomenal campus’” and complimented Iowa fans for their support of Hawkeye women’s basketball.

“I’m a fan of hers,” Smith said while pointing to Clark before he left the stage. “She is the reason I am in Iowa City, and she is the reason I’ll be back.”

Q&A

Smith: Well first of all, what’s up everybody? We all know I’m many things, but I’m not a liar. This lady right here. Caitlin is my favorite college basketball player in the world. She is something special. And Caitlin I’m just gonna stop because they want to hear from you. Obviously, you know, when you see this crowd out here knowing they are out here for you, what does it feel like for you to be a part of this and to be such a leading voice and face on this campus?

Clark: Yeah, that’s the reason I came here is because of crowds like this. So, thank you guys for coming. Maybe if it’s not for me it’s for Stephen A., the man. That’s why I chose Iowa, but also, I’m an Iowa kid. I grew up here. I grew up rooting for the Hawkeyes. I grew up two hours from this place. So, it’s really special to me and my first year here was COVID, and it was really different. But now here I get to experience it with all of you. We’re gonna play in front of 15,000 people every single game this year, and 50,000 people for the Crossover at Kinnick next Sunday. So, students, I’m pretty sure you can still get tickets, so you have to be there. Get it to 70,000.

Smith: It’s one thing for folks like myself and in this crowd obviously feeling like you’re the best women player in college basketball. Do you feel that you are the best right now?

Clark: I think any competitor is going to say that. You always believe in yourself. But also, I’m lucky enough to be at a school where coach Bluder, our coach, lets me thrive. She lets me do what I do best, and that’s one of the reasons I came here is I didn’t want to play for a coach that was going to handcuff me and not let me be me. So, I think that’s one of the biggest things, but also the rest of the team that I play with. They let me be me too. We had a group of five starters that were with each other for three years. That helps a lot too, but my goal was to take this team to the Final Four, and then we reach our first-ever national championship game, so that’s not too bad.

Smith: When you say they let you be you — right now, who are you in your eyes? I’m talking about your game.

Clark:  I think the coolest thing for me is I still feel like I have so much room to improve, and I think that’s what’s so exciting about it is I’m only 21 years old. I hope to have a really long pro career and be a really great player and be one of the best. But this has been my dream since I was a young kid to be in the spotlight like this, get a scholarship to play basketball, and then hopefully play in the WNBA one day — that’s always been my goal. That’s what I’m going to do. And that’s the coolest thing for me is I grew up watching players whether it was Maya Moore or whether it was Steph Curry, those are the people I always loved watching, the way they shoot the ball. I try to mimic that and try to be half as good, so it’s fun for myself.

Smith: Well obviously, when everybody looks at you — let’s tell the world the worst kept secret. Whenever you do go to the WNBA, you’re going to be the No.1 overall pick.

But how hard is it going to be, could you put into words even though the WNBA is your dream, how hard it is going to be for you to leave here considering the level of success that you had last year and what I anticipate you’ll have this year?

Clark: Yeah, absolutely. That’ll be one of the hardest things is whether I decide to stay another year or whether this is my last year. But right now, we have an amazing year coming up here. Let’s focus on that.

But no, I think that the coolest thing is to see how this program has kind of evolved and now a sold-out crowd, that’s what we’re playing for. Whenever I decide to go to the WNBA, I hope it’s that same thing. I hope I can continue to grow the game. I hope we’re playing in front of sold-out crowds. I hope more teams are added to the league. There are so many tremendous players that don’t even get the opportunity to play in the league. So, the more players the better but, yeah, definitely will be a tough decision. But I feel like my time here has been absolutely incredible. And I know this year will be amazing in itself. So, I’m just trying to enjoy that.

Smith: In all the years that I’ve been covering sports and all the great players and the great athletes that I’ve covered throughout my career, they’ve always taught me that failure is the recipe to success. Trials and tribulations come and go. Nothing’s going to be easy sailing. There’s always going to be some level of adversity. You guys went to the Final Four, you went to the national championship game, and then you lost to LSU. What did you learn from it?

Clark: Yeah, I think the biggest thing for myself was learning how hard it is to get there. There’s what, 360 division one basketball teams? It is really hard to get there. It’s really hard. It’s going to be really hard to get back there. So I think the biggest thing that I learned for myself is to enjoy every single moment, but when you’re in the locker room at that end of the game, you’re crying, you’re upset, but I think the thing you realize is you’re upset that you lost, but you’re most upset that your season’s over and the girls that you did it with you don’t get to go back and practice with them the next day. And I think that just speaks to how close our team was and how much fun we had together. But yeah, I think the biggest thing is like, you know, the year before we lose in the round of 32 to Creighton. That’s a failure in itself. But I think if we didn’t have the fire inside of us to be motivated the next year, we knew it was our last year of having all five starters together, I think that’s what really drove us to get to the Final Four, reach the national championship and really just believe in ourselves.

Smith: How much better do you think you all will be this year compared to what we saw last year? 31-7 last year, 15-3 in the conference. I mean, how much better are you going to be this year?

Clark: I think we can be undefeated, undefeated. But no, I think Coach Bluder always has really, really great teams. And that’s what’s so amazing about her is this program has been really good before I got here, and it’s going to be different. It’s not going to be exactly like it was last year, and that’s what makes every team every year so unique. And that’s what’s so fun. For me it’s such a challenge. We lost two starters who are really, really great and gave a lot to our program. Monika Czinano has been absolutely amazing. And I know a lot of you probably love her. Yeah. McKenna Warnock is tremendous. So, I think it’s different, and that’s what’s going to make it so fun, but you’re not going to see a season like this probably for a really long time. Playing in front of 15,000 people every single night is unheard of in women’s basketball. When we go on the road, it’s going to be really hard to get a ticket. Playing in front of 50,000 people in Kinnick Stadium, never been done before, another record. So, it’s going to be another historic season simply put.

Smith: With that level of success comes a lot of responsibility. And one of the things as you travel this country, somebody like me is looking at you. I’ve called you the female Steph Curry. I’ve said that many, many times. When I talk about you, I talk about your greatness as a player, but people who know you talk about your greatness as a person, and especially when they talk about you and how you’ve really, really been on this mission to influence a lot of young lives, particularly a lot of young lives in regards to females. I want you to speak to that for a second, and what kind of responsibility you are so willing to embrace, and why are you that way? A lot of people might run away from that responsibility, but you never have.

Clark: Yeah, I think the biggest thing is I feel like I was just that young girl that dreamed of being in this moment. Maya Moore was my favorite player growing up. She played for the Minnesota Lynx. She wasn’t just a great basketball player and scored the basketball really well, another reason I really liked her. I feel like I was just in their shoes. I was a young girl that dreamed of being on this stage. And being able to be a role model, I feel like a normal person. I’m always going to take five seconds and take a picture with somebody, sign an autograph with somebody. I feel like that’s kind of my duty, but also people like to say I’m the face of college basketball, women’s college basketball. That’s something I embrace, something that’s special. If I can continue to move the game forward, not only basketball but women’s sports in general.

Smith: Do you ever worry — last question — I know you take pictures with anybody. Do you guard yourself when you sign those autographs? It could mess with your hand. It could mess with your shooting hand.

Clark: No, it’s all good. It’s all good.

Smith: I’m just checking

Clark: I’ll sign one for you.

This was edited for length and clarity.