Golf influencer Paige Spiranac came to the defense of Iowa sharpshooter Caitlin Clark on Sunday as the Hawkeyes fell to South Carolina in the national championship.

Clark faced criticism from WNBA legends Diana Taurasi and Sheryl Swoopes, former UConn star Breanna Stewart and Hall of Famer Lynette Woodard all within the span of a few months as she pursued the all-time scoring mark and a shot at the national title.

Spiranac, who is also the target of criticism on social, wrote that the “hate” toward Clark was unsurprising.

“The hate towards Caitlin Clark from current and former players is disappointing but not surprising,” she wrote on X. “Women can be absolutely vicious to other women while also preaching empowering the next generation. I’ve seen it first hand but we must remember a rising tide lifts all boats.”

Clark has been unconcerned with the criticism lobbed toward her and it hasn’t stopped her performance on the floor.

She scored 30 points in the loss against the Gamecocks.

“It’s certainly been a special year,” Clark said. “To be honest, after last year I was kind of, like, ‘How do we top doing what we did last year?’ Somehow, some way, every single person in our locker room believed. To be honest, this year was probably more special than last year.”

The next step for Clark is the WNBA.

She’s expected to be the No. 1 pick of the April 15 draft – a spot held by the Indiana Fever. The team already selected Aliyah Boston with the top pick last year out of South Carolina.

Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin never missed a beat — literally.

The two started 139 games together over the last four years. Gabbie Marshall has played in 166 career games — the most among any Big Ten women’s basketball player ever.

These three helped create an untouchable legacy, and perhaps the greatest era in Hawkeye history ended Sunday night.

Three starters that climbed to the top of Mount Everest after nearly everybody wrote them off before the season even started.

Iowa clashed with the goliaths of the sport. They took down Kim Mulkey and Geno Auriemma, and are the only team in the last two seasons to defeat South Carolina.

Not hoisting a shiny trophy hurts, and it will. But that’s not the legacy this team leaves behind.

“Time goes so fast, like it’s crazy. I can’t believe this is my last career game,” Clark said.

“There’s so much to be proud of. People didn’t love us for our wins, I think they loved us for the way we carried ourselves every single day. For the way we played for one another.

The joy we played with, the the passion we played with. The competitive spirit we had. The way we high-fived and celebrated our teammates’ success. That’s the reason people loved tuning in to Iowa women’s basketball.”

“I idolized Iowa women’s basketball,” Martin said. “But it wasn’t like it is now. It is super cool to be a part of. I think our legacy is that we changed women’s basketball in a sense.

It’s just really cool to be associated with that, and I feel super grateful.”

“We’ve been together for so long, we’ve been through it together,” Marshall said.

“The ups and the downs, everything in between. I think just having those moments on and off the court to just build the chemistry between the three of us and Coach Bluder.”

Nika Muhl (image source Getty Images)
Nika Muhl is one of Croatia’s most talented basketball players of this age group and a highly potential collegiate player. Nika Muhl leads the University of Connecticut Huskies women’s basketball team.

Her strong defensive abilities have earned her two Big East Defensive Player of the Year accolades, as determined by the conference coaches. Furthermore, she set a new UConn record for assists in a single season with 284 in 2022-2023.

With a career average of 4.2 assists per game, she has displayed her court vision and offensive orchestration abilities.

Nika Muhl ‼️

ELITE DEFENDER 🔥

3PT THREAT ‼️

According to the research, Muhl is not involved in any relationships with anyone. Currently, she doesn’t have a boyfriend. Despite being a very beautiful and talented basketball player, she is still single.

However, several rumors have also been spread by fans on social media about her dating history, but all are rumors not from authentic sources but just spread by fans.

Nika Muhl made her personal life private

From 2016 until 2020, Mühl played for ŽKK Trešnjevka 2009 in the Croatian Prva Ženska Liga. Muhl scored 5.0 points, 2.7 assists, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.8 steals over 22 games in her debut season.

Muhl anchored the Huskies’ defense, which allowed a league-high 50.8 points per game over conference opponents, earning the honor of Big East Defensive Player of the Year for 2021-2022. Muhl scored 2.2 steals per game, ranking second in the Big East.

At the 2018 FIBA U18 European Championship, she represented Croatia, scoring 10.9 points, 5.7 assists, and 5.0 rebounds per game.

Muhl made her personal life private. It is still not clear if she has a boyfriend or not, but the rumors will keep spreading as she is a very beautiful and talented basketball player.

Deion Sanders
Deion Sanders was not happy with some of the players on Colorado’s football program after receiving an email from one of their professors outlining how difficult it’s been getting through to them.

College athletes typically get an easier ride when it comes to academics, but Coach Prime has always been a vocal proponent of education as he’s well aware that most of the players on a roster actually don’t end up going pro.

A recent video from Well Off Media shows Sanders reading said email to the team.

“This semester has been extremely challenging for me as a professor,” he read. “I have never felt so disrespected in my ten years of teaching. Students do not follow even minimally and it slows down my class so much. They make it clear that they don’t want to be here and have very little personal responsibility…“

The professor also noted that the athletes in his class bring nothing to the table, while they ruin the experience for other students.

Sanders then showed emails about specific players and asked a staff member whether they had an NFL Draft grade. As it turns out, none of them did.

Deion Sanders Vowed That Every Football Player At Colorado Will Leave The Program With Something

Dein Sanders also promised that every single player will leave Colorado with something. Of course, he can’t account for those who leave through the transfer portal, but Prime would like to see all his players either make it to the NFL or another professional football league, or graduate with an education that will help them navigate through life out of school.

“You gonna get something out of this,” he added. “You gonna be a man or you’re going to be a great football player. Since you choose not to be a great football player, we gotta make you a man.“

Sanders would lament over the “NIL state of mind” that he reckons encourages athletes to concentrate on just one aspect of the game.

“So, coaches we got to emphasize education, we got to emphasize life, we got to emphasize the next step the next elevation if it don’t work in the game,” he remarked.

Sanders is heading into his second season in charge of the Buffaloes after a 4-8 finish in 2023.