Rock star. Indiana women's basketball fans clamor to witness Caitlin Clark's greatness

BLOOMINGTON — Five hours before the No. 4 Iowa Hawkeyes took on the 14th-ranked Indiana women’s basketball team Thursday night at Assembly Hall is silent. There is nothing but an echo of basketballs bouncing and managers chatting.

Outside was a different story.

The buzzing anticipation of fans of all ages, sizes, and genders was contained only by the steel grates corralling the fans that are lined along the outside of one of the cathedrals of college basketball.

Everyone was eager for the top-20 matchup about to happen, but more so to see the national phenomenon that is Iowa's reigning National Player of the Year Caitlin Clark.

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Delbert and Sandy Spiegel, an older couple from Sioux City, Iowa have always been Iowa fans. Delbert, 82, is decked out in black and gold overalls, a hat with the Hawkeyes' logo and a light black fleece to accommodate for the cooler weather. He has watched women’s basketball since they played a half-court game.

From playing half court to banking shots effortlessly from half court, Delbert came here to see his friend.

“She knows me,” Delbert said of Clark as Sandy stood close behind him laughing and shaking her head no “Well, I wave at her and say ‘Caitlin, do you remember me?’”

Admittedly, Clark has never waved back, but the couple drove 11 hours from Iowa Wednesday hoping today would be the day.

“She could wave and shoot a basket at the same time," Delbert said, "... and make it.”

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But it is not just older people who made the trip to Assembly Hall for this key Big Ten matchup.

Hundreds of young girls in line wore a black Iowa jersey with a "22" on the back. Lyla Gray, a fourth grader from Southern Indiana, did not have such a simple look. Gray wore a pink 2023 Final Four edition of Clark’s jersey. Her blond hair was in a bun with a sporty elastic headband — the look of a serious basketball player.

Gray clung tightly to a sign she made that read “I want to be like Mike," but Mike — as in Jordan — was crossed off and replaced with “Caitlin Clark.”

Someone in line next to Gray commented on the sign, liking the play on the saying “Be like Mike” because “everyone knows Mike,” he said. Another person responded that Caitlin Clark might be on the same level of popularity as the basketball legend and six-time NBA champion.

One day Gray aspires to be the next Clark, but before she succeeds and replaces the women’s basketball icon, she will happily settle for getting her autograph on the sign.

At the entrance adjacent to Gray’s, the Indiana students were lined up. Some are Indiana women’s basketball regulars while others, like freshmen Reid Sprenkle and Nick Tabscott, are attending their first women’s basketball game. The two are looking to watch a quality basketball game and Sprenkle is jumping on the women’s basketball wagon train.

“The men’s basketball team, right now we're struggling," Sprenkle said. "and "I think women’s basketball is on the come up.”

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Despite being an Indiana student wearing an Indiana sweatshirt and hat, Sprenkle admits that he, like many others, is here for Clark.

They stood in line since 3 p.m., waiting in the hectic student lines that Tabscott anticipated would be a part of his college experience whether that be for men’s or women’s sports. But this day was one in particular that he had thought of since he applied.

“It did come to my mind when I was coming here that Caitlin Clark would be playing us,” Tabscott said. “So I actually did plan around this before I knew when it was because I was excited to see it."

Ten years ago, the Indiana women’s team had an average attendance of 2,723. On Thursday, two hours before the game started, fans began to push their way in.

The diverse group of attendees turned the once calm halls of Assembly Hall into a zoo, racing to get a seat that they have waited all day for.

"I think," Tabscott said, "that it’s a pretty cool opportunity.”

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Fans follow Caitlin Clark, Iowa for Indiana women's basketball showdown