sport news Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and WNBA hopefuls light up the Empire State Building ... trends now
Among the clusters of tour groups and sightseers in midtown Manhattan on Monday morning was a conspicuously tall ensemble of young women being escorted into the Empire State Building.
They could have been mistaken for a bachelorette party, given their matching orange sweatshirts and frequent outbursts of laughter, but the crowd gathering outside on 34th street knew better: These were the WNBA hopefuls storming the city on a media tour en route to Monday night's draft in Brooklyn.
Fresh off her appearance on Saturday Night Live and interview with NBC's Today, Iowa sensation Caitlin Clark was joined by South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso for the traditional lighting ceremony. Just eight days earlier, it was Cardoso's Gamecocks who beat Clark's Hawkeyes in a national championship watched by an average of 18.7 million viewers — about four million more than the men's game.
Yes, the men's game suffered somewhat for being on cable while the women were on national television, but Clark, LSU's Angel Reese and a growing number of female players have become more recognizable than their male counterparts.
And nowhere was that more obvious on Monday than in midtown Manhattan, where a gaggle of young girls had gathered in hopes of catching their newfound heroes in person.
Iowa's Caitlin Clark appears at the Empire State Building ahead of Monday's WNBA Draft
Angel Reese flashes a smile to photographers on the 86th-floor observation deck of the ESB
WNBA hopefuls appear with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert: Caitlin Clark, Cameron Brink, Kamilla Cardoso, Rickea Jackson and Angel Reese among others
Caitlin Clark (left) and Kamilla Cardoso (right) light the Empire State Building in Orange
The women ultimately declined all interview requests, or rather, they took off before any scheduled interviews could even take place. But that's understandable — and even forgivable — given the media gauntlet they've been running since the beginning of March.
More than anyone, Clark appeared ready for the circus to be over. She wasn't rude or anything, but the exhaustion of the last month appeared to be catching up with her as she dropped her head into her hands during a few candid moments. After all, this entire day is strictly ceremonial to a player who is assured of being
