Ohio State Fan Collides with Star Basketball Player Caitlin Clark

Reigning national player of the year, Caitlin Clark, and an Ohio State fan inadvertently collided Sunday afternoon as Buckeyes fans stormed the court following the team’s thrilling victory in overtime over No. 2 Iowa. As multiple videos posted by fans on social media showed, an Ohio State fan ran toward a gathering crowd at midcourt and crashed into Clark as she was running off the floor. Clark fell down, and arena personnel and her Iowa teammates immediately rushed to check on her well-being. Although she experienced some pain, Clark clarified that she had merely gotten the wind knocked out of her, but acknowledged that it was a “kind of scary” situation that could have turned out worse.

Iowa coach Lisa Bluder expressed her disappointment over the incident, stating that their players should be safe and able to walk off the court without getting injured. Clark reported that Ohio State’s athletic director, Gene Smith, had already apologized to her for the incident, which she greatly appreciated. Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff also expressed remorse, apologizing to Clark during his news conference. He hoped that the collision wouldn’t affect her future performance and emphasized that such incidents should never happen to any player.

Clark, who leads the country in scoring and assists, acknowledged that incidents like this can unfortunately occur and stated that she is now focused on the game and finding ways to improve. The loss to Ohio State snapped Iowa’s 15-game winning streak and served as their first defeat in Big Ten play. Ohio State celebrated their victory in front of a crowd of 18,660, the largest regular-season attendance for a women’s basketball game this season.