Women athletes don’t just deserve more media coverage, they also deserve coverage that matches the quality of their performances. That’s something that has been bugging fans of women’s sports for years: even when big outlets dedicate time and space to women’s sports, the people on air don’t always know what they are talking about.
Bruce Pearl, a former men’s college basketball coach, proved that all over again during CBS’s preview of the Big Ten championship game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the UCLA Bruins.
“Iowa women’s basketball. No superstar Caitlin Smith, no Hall of Fame coaches C. Vivian Stringer or Lisa Blunder,” Pearl said.
"Iowa women's basketball. No superstar Caitlin Smith. No Hall of Fame coaches. C. Vivian Stringer .... No Lisa Blunder." - Bruce Pearl on Caitlin Clark and Lisa Bluder pic.twitter.com/UkfXQR43rf
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 8, 2026
There are several problems with that sentence. It’s Caitlin Clark, not Cailtin Smith, which someone quickly told Pearl, giving him a chance to correct himself mid-sentence. C. Vivian Stringer hasn’t been Iowa’s head coach since 1995. He also mispronounced Lisa Bluder’s name.
And, last but not least, why is someone who can’t even remember the name of one of the brightest stars in women’s basketball previewing a Big Ten championship game on International Women’s Day? The timing of his blunder only makes it more embarrassing and underlines how much work there is still to do when it comes to the coverage of women’s sports. Pearl—and women’s basketball players and fans everywhere—would be better served if he just stayed away from talking about the women’s game.
This was almost as bad as when Reggie Miller said that Clark’s NBA players comp was Payton Pritchard. At least Miller knew Clark’s actual name.
The Hawkeyes really missed “Caitlin Smith”
Caitlin Clark may be the most popular player to ever suit up for the Hawkeyes, but she left college two seasons ago, so playing without her really isn’t that much of a change for this year’s Iowa squad. Neither is not playing under Lisa Bluder anymore. She retired after the 2023-24 season.
The team definitely could’ve used someone with Clark’s ability to make shots and create offense, though. UCLA handed Iowa a brutal 96-45 loss behind strong performances from Gianna Kneepkens, Kiki Rice, and Sienna Betts.
Iowa got 15 points from Ava Heiden and 11 from Addie Deal, but it was still no match for UCLA. The Bruins dominated every aspect of the game, ranging from shooting percentages to fastbreak points and the battle in the paint.
Losing by 51 points in the Big Ten Tournament Final will be an important lesson for freshman Addie Deal and sophomores Ava Heiden and Chit-Chat Wright, who will all hopefully stay with the program for a few more years, but it is still embarrassing. Although not as embarrassing as forgetting Caitlin Clark’s name.