ACC feels positive impact of women’s college basketball growth, improvement

Tears fell as Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks spoke to the media last week; his emotions spurred by the growth of women’s basketball.

Brooks started his coaching career as a men’s basketball assistant but chose to switch. He said the women play basketball in its “purest form,” and he loves the camaraderie, energy and passion.

People have long degraded women’s sports — and that still happens — but the tide is finally turning. From the increased television viewership to sellout crowds and social media engagement, women’s sports are booming.

“They’re finally getting their due respect, because the game is beautiful…the game has grown so much, so I’m gonna do whatever I can to continue it,” Brooks said. “I want all of our players, my daughters, everyone to have the opportunity that they deserve, and these kids deserve it.”

The Caitlin Clark effect

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark deserves a lot of credit for helping the growth of women’s basketball, ESPN analyst and former Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw told the News & Observer.

Clark broke Kelsey Plum’s Division I women’s scoring record on Feb. 15. She followed that up on Feb. 28, scoring 38 points and breaking Lynette Woodard’s major college scoring record. Woodard played in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, scoring 3,649 points, before the NCAA sponsored women’s sports.

Clark surpassed LSU’s Pete Maravich’s career scoring record (3,667) on Sunday against Ohio State. She now leads every Division I basketball player in history, man or woman. She needed 18 points to set a new record and finished with 35.

The game garnered nearly 3.4 million viewers on Fox Sports, and peaked at 4.4 million, becoming the highest-rated regular-season women’s basketball game since Tennessee-UConn in 1999. It outranked this season’s North Carolina-Duke men’s basketball matchup in Chapel Hill, too, which averaged 3.2 million viewers.

Last season, the women’s national championship featuring Iowa and LSU boasted 9.9 million viewers. It became the most-watched women’s college basketball game on record and the most-viewed college basketball game, men or women, on ESPN platforms.

“I think the game has just gotten better and better, but she has really taken us to a new level,” McGraw said.

Asitha Jayawardena, father of two daughters, wrote a guest opinion piece in the Minneapolis Star Tribune to thank Clark for her impact. The first-generation immigrant and physician described his efforts to connect with his children more intentionally. He struggled at first with his eldest, but they bonded while watching Clark’s games.

That’s one of McGraw’s favorite things: seeing the dads and daughters, the boys finding inspiration in a woman and casual fans tuning in.

Fans in the ACC might not be able to catch Clark at a game, but they’ve got plenty of impressive individuals in their own markets. The USBWA named eight ACC players — tied with the Pac-12 for the most — on its Player of the Year and All-America watch list.

Dyaisha Fair, from Syracuse, ranks No. 5 in Division I women’s basketball scoring (3,351 points) and, at the time of publication, needs 43 points to move into fourth.

North Carolina’s Alyssa Ustby and N.C. State’s Madison Hayes are known for their do-it-all games. Both seniors score, rebound and defend effectively, performing as glue players for their respective programs.

ACC Player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley (Virginia Tech),Rookie of the Year Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame), Georgia Amoore (Virginia Tech), Aziaha James (N.C. State) and Deja Kelly (UNC) also received recognition for their impressive contributions this season.

And there are plenty of others who could’ve earned recognition.

“We’ve had teams, but we haven’t really had players that were so exceptional,” McGraw said.

‘A nod to how strong this league is’

The growth of women’s basketball includes an unprecedented balance, McGraw said, and plenty of notable players across the country.

South Carolina might be undefeated and the favorite to win the national championship, but there’s plenty of room — especially in the rest of the top 25 — for upsets.

“It’s so much more exciting when you don’t look at the bracket and go, ‘Well, pencil them in. They’re going to win the whole thing,” McGraw said.

That parity extends to the ACC, too. N.C. State coach Wes Moore said on Monday that he thought the tournament was “wide open.”

Going into last week’s ACC Tournament, there had never been a No. 1 team with more than three losses in conference play. No. 1 seed Virginia Tech had four this season.

A four-loss team previously landed at least second, but most often No. 3 or No. 4 in the standings.

Teams are recording multiple sellouts, with N.C. State and Virginia Tech leading the way. The Hokies’ game at Virginia on March 3 neared 12,000 fans and set a record for the highest attendance for any women’s basketball game in the state.

“To be a part of that, honestly, it was a blessing,” said Virginia coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton. “I’ll never forget that game. I will never ever in my life, because it just was so electric in there.”

Even for teams that don’t sell out every game, their attendance numbers continue to grow. They’re seeing consistency from fans and increased name recognition.

That speaks to the product being put on the floor, the players representing each team and the efforts to continue advocating for women’s athletics.

It’s a symbiotic relationship. Women’s basketball teams continue to perform well, but they often credit fan loyalty for providing the energy and motivation when things get difficult.

“Sometimes I’ll just be out there dead, and I just look at the crowd and they’re like, ‘Come on, come on,’” the Wolfpack’s Saniya Rivers said last week. “It’s just like, ‘OK, I’ve got to do it for them.’ … I just have to suck it up, because they come for us every night — win, lose or draw.”

‘At it for a long time’

Duke’s Kennedy Brown looked up to Brittney Griner (Baylor), Breanna Stewart (UConn) and Elena Delle Donne (Delaware) as an aspiring player.

McGraw didn’t have those role models. College games weren’t on TV and the WNBA didn’t exist. Now, teams are the most accessible they’ve ever been, with broadcasting, subscription services and social media.

Brown said the visibility of female athletes inspired her, so she’s “honored” to play during the current surge.

“That’s something I really push: empowering women, especially women in sports,” Brown said in October. “Right now with social media the way it is and the players we have in college right now, I think we have a really great opportunity to continue to grow the game.”

Georgia Tech coach Nell Fortner said it gives children of all demographics an opportunity to dream and create visions for themselves, something the women who came before did not have.

McGraw hopes to see further education on women’s sports, their history and cross promotion. Things are going in the right direction, though, and that’s a win.

“I don’t know that there’s another Caitlin Clark, but there are some pretty exciting players,” McGraw said of the women’s basketball landscape. “We’ve been at it for a long time, and it’s finally coming.”