Caitlin Clark excited for historic scrimmage inside Kinnick Stadium

Iowa women’s basketball is getting ready to have a scrimmage at Kinnick Stadium that the program is calling Crossover at Kinnick. Ahead of the game, 50,000 people have already bought tickets to see star Caitlin Clark and the rest of the Hawkeyes play in a scrimmage.

Clark spoke to the media ahead of the event, sharing just how excited she is for the game.

“Yeah, I’m super excited. Obviously, a super historic event that probably will only happen once. I think we’re around close to 50,000 tickets, which is tremendous, and hopefully we have a late push to get that up even higher,” Caitlin Clark said. “But yeah, I’ve been checking the weather, 30-day forecasts. Are those something you should trust? I don’t know. But it looks good. No, I think on Sunday is when I’ll start really watching the weather, but I’m excited.”

Proceeds for the event are going to The University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. That’s huge but Clark doesn’t want to get distracted when trying to improve during a scrimmage.

“Then obviously all the proceeds are going to the children’s hospital, which is super cool, too, so it’s for a really great cause,” Clark said. “But at the same time, it’s an opportunity for us to get better. Like this is our scrimmage. We get to go out there and compete and work on things. I’m going to plan on shooting two airballs just because of the wind.”

Caitlin Clark is one of the best players in the college game today. Last season, she was even named the Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year. Still, playing outdoors, she’s expecting some mistakes.

“But yeah, it’s incredible. I’m super excited. I think just watching Nebraska volleyball and what they were able to do. Obviously, ours is going to be a little bit on a smaller level, but still, we’re going to be able to break the women’s basketball record for most people at a game,” Clark said.

“Shout-out to Coach Bluder. She was kind of the mind behind that, and obviously Beth has supported us and wanted us to accomplish something great like that. I’m super excited, yeah. It can’t come fast enough.”

This game is coming amid tons of excitement for the team. Caitlin Clark is a huge part of that excitement but says she doesn’t feel any extra pressure from the outside noise.

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s going to be much different from years previous. Obviously, our expectations were very lofty last year, and we had a group that had played three years together, and it was like, all right, this is our final time around. To me that’s about the most pressure you can get,” Caitlin Clark said.

“I understand we’re going to be playing in front of a ton of fans. There’s more eyes on us, more than ever. But there might be a few learning experiences for this team. There’s people that are going to play that haven’t really got those minutes or been in end-of-game situations. So like I said earlier, I think the biggest thing is being a voice in the locker room to help them understand our season is not made or broken by one win or loss. When I was a freshman, I probably thought it was. But I think understanding now that’s not really how it goes.”

Ultimately, according to Caitlin Clark, the pressure Iowa is under is a good thing. In fact, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Yeah, I think Coach Bluder always said pressure is a privilege, and that’s something that you welcome. I wouldn’t want it any other way. The girls in the locker room wouldn’t want it any other way. We want to be ranked in the top 10. We want a sold-out arena. We want fans on the road booing us. That’s what a competitor wants,” Clark said.

“You welcome it. You enjoy it. At the end of the day, you understand like this is special. Don’t be afraid of it. Don’t run away from it. Just enjoy it and soak it in, because no other Iowa women’s basketball team in history has had an opportunity to be in an environment like this.”

The Crossover at Kinnick, ultimately, is a scrimmage. So, Iowa is going to enjoy it and use it as an opportunity to get better for when their season starts on November 6th against Fairleigh Dickinson.

“So I’m just going to try to enjoy it, and if we lose a game we should have won, I know our world is not going to be broken. It’s just you come back the next day and get better and hopefully lead this team to a lot of success at the end of the year.”

Caitlin Clark reacts to Nebraska volleyball event

Iowa isn’t the first school to have a women’s sporting event in their football stadium. Earlier this season at Nebraska the volleyball team filled Memorial Stadium. That’s an event that Caitlin Clark did take note of.

“Yeah, well, I was like, first of all, this counts towards their actual record. I’m not sure I would sign up for a basketball game if it counted for my actual record outside. But no, I thought it was incredible. I’ve always been a fan of Nebraska volleyball. I think what they do is incredible. I think they sell out basically every game. They’re always ranked in the top 5. But they’re also playing Nebraska-Omaha, so it was just a win for the state of Nebraska. My mom actually graduated from there, so I have a lot of family from there,” Clark said.

“Yeah, I think it’s cool. It shows how excited people are about women’s sports in general. It doesn’t only have to be basketball, doesn’t only have to be volleyball, softball, whatever it is. It’s just super cool. I can’t imagine those girls’ feelings when they walked out of the tunnel to 90,000 or whatever it was, 90,000 plus people screaming for them. I just know that had to be one of the coolest feelings.”