Former ESPN star Jemele Hill is questioning Caitlin Clark’s “College GameDay” appearance this weekend.
Clark, fresh off a WNBA Playoffs loss to the Las Vegas Aces, appeared on the college football pregame show on Saturday morning. Clark served as the celebrity guest picker for Saturday’s show, which took place at her alma mater, Iowa. The Hawkeyes hosted the Ohio State Buckeyes in a major Big Ten showdown on Saturday afternoon.
But would Clark, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, have appeared on the show – in part to promote her new Nike shoes – if Indiana had taken down Las Vegas in Game 3 on Thursday night?
Hill is wondering.
“I wonder if win or lose Caitlin Clark was going to be the GameDay picker. Or was it just if she lost? With Game 1 of the semis being Sunday, had the Fever won their series against the Aces, would her appearance still have been possible?” she wrote on X.
It’s a fair question.
Sports media insider Richard Deitsch weighed in with his thoughts
The sports media insider weighed in with his thoughts on Hill’s question.
“If I’m guessing: You reach out to her agents at Excel or Nike execs beforehand and say if the Fever lose, we’d love to have CC there. You obviously have a backup in place but don’t announce. Maybe Excel told her in advance. Who knows. It’s a great branding play for her/Nike with the shoe deal and she loves Iowa so you figure if your Excel, you’ll make the turnaround work. Great piece of business for CC and especially ESPN which wants to always sell the atmosphere of GameDay as the place to be on Saturday morning,” he wrote on X.
It’s great exposure for Clark, even if it comes after a WNBA Playoffs loss.
