Geno Auriemma looked back on Caitlin Clark's rookie WNBA MVP odds: 'It's a slap in the face'

UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma took issue with Caitlin Clark’s MVP odds during her rookie season. Clark, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, beat Auriemma’s team to advance to the 2024 NCAA championship game they would lose to the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Before going to the pros, Clark scored 21 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished seven assists in a tight 71-69 win at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. The relationship between Auriemma and Clark has always been complex.

The legendary coach didn’t believe Clark would have an easy path to adapt to the physicality of the WNBA, but she proved everybody wrong. Amid her remarkable rookie season, Auriemma was asked about the young guard’s odds to win the MVP award (+7500 at the time), admitting that it didn’t sit well with him.

Geno Auriemma called out people pushing Caitlin Clark’s MVP narrative during rookie season

“You know, like I said earlier, they actually had odds that you know, she was like third or fourth in the betting odds to be MVP at WNBA, that’s such a slap in the face to every WNBA player,” Geno Auriemma said back then.

Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever looks on before the game against the Dallas Wings at American Airlines Center on August 1, 2025 in Dallas, Texas.

While he admitted that Caitlin Clark wasn’t behind the MVP push, Auriemma went after the people trying to put her above established rookies.

“It’s unbelievable. It comes from a place where people want it so bad, but it’s misguided, and certainly she’s not driving it. She’s not out there campaigning for it. She’s handling her own playing, she has good days, she has bad days, she makes shots, she does not make shots,” Geno Auriemma said.

They never joined forces in college basketball, but Auriemma and Clark crossed paths multiple times during the latter’s career.