Geno Auriemma jokingly tried to stay on Caitlin Clark’s good side to stop her from lighting up UConn

To reach the Final Four yet again, Geno Auriemma’s UConn Huskies have an almost impossibly difficult task in front of them: Beating Iowa’s Caitlin Clark at the peak of her college powers.

And after watching what Clark did to LSU in an instant classic Elite Eight battle, Auriemma isn’t taking any chances. In fact, he’s seemingly pulling out all the stops to ensure she doesn’t have any extra motivation for Friday’s semifinal heavyweight fight.

After UConn beat USC to advance to the Final Four on Monday, Auriemma started joking about everything he overtly appreciates about Clark as a player. Why? This was his earnest effort to keep her hopefully grounded so she doesn’t light the Huskies up:

“I don’t need to be seeing her drop 50 on us next weekend”

Geno Auriemma with a lot of respect for Caitlin Clark pic.twitter.com/K0lirsk26J

— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) April 2, 2024

Talk about some elite gamesmanship. Auriemma knows that if Clark comes locked in ready for a historic performance, then UConn probably doesn’t have much of a chance to win. This is how you keep expectations low — by staying on a superstar’s good side.