It’s not just the audience for the Caitlin Clark game that’s trending up. ESPN basketball analyst Andraya Carter is an integral part of the network’s coverage of women’s college hoops and was pleasantly surprised by the world leader’s embrace of the sport throughout its programming this spring.
Discussing interest in ESPN studio broadcasts for this year’s NCAA women’s tournament in an interview on the Sports Media with Richard Deitsch podcast released Thursday, Carter explained how she saw the fan interest in women’s basketball translate into interest from ESPN producers.
Carter thinks there’s “a ton” of support in Bristol right now, and the fans are eating it up.
“There’s definitely buy-in, and now that the conversations we’re having First take And Get up, they get attention once they are posted on social media, people participate in the conversation and give their opinion,” Carter said. “So for the coordinating producers of these shows to see women’s college basketball as a hot topic and people wanting to talk about it and wanting to jump into the conversation after the show ends, that’s a good sign .”
Carter pointed to a viral moment featuring the legendary Samuel L. Jackson on Twitter, interjecting in his debate with Stephen A. Smith over Caitlin Clark’s legacy, as an example.
HAS @Andraya_Carter Or @stephenasmith Have you ever heard of Pearl Moore? 4,061 pts BEFORE there is a 3pt line!! No more @CaitlinClark22 The goat talks until it overtakes Pearl! I don’t care what era it was or that it was AIAW, the ball is and was the ball, y’all, throw that GOAT shit way too much!!
– Samuel L. Jackson (@SamuelLJackson) March 23, 2024
Still, Carter understands that this might just be the beginning, rather than an incident resulting from Clark’s fame. Clark highlighted how ESPN’s women’s programs College Game Day went from two shows in 2022 to five shows this year. ESPN goes where the eyes and the dollars are.
“It’s all building slowly,” Carter said.
On Sports center this week, host Zubin Mehenti turned the floor over to Carter and Rebecca Lobo for two segments to break down LSU’s offense and other tournament trends.
More information about Carter at Sports Media with Richard Deitsch:
“It doesn’t make sense to expect a big leap forward in everything. We’re not going to suddenly have women’s college basketball on Get Up every day, or on First Take every day. But with the tournament going so well, there are so many stars and there are still so many conversations that people want to have, it’s going really well – and I’m trying to put a little pressure on myself to perform well. this way when I have the opportunity to do it and do a good job explaining my thoughts on these players and the game to attract more people – at the end of the season, who knows.
Maybe next year, if there’s a non-conference game with two exciting players and a little spice in the game, maybe First Take and Get Up will contact you about it. Maybe we have small segments before the tournament starts, because now people are focused on these superstars. And they are fixed on what they do, how they play and how they perform.
So I think the better it goes in this tournament, maybe who knows, we’ll see it earlier in the year. And if we see it earlier in the year, maybe we’ll have a segment next summer because a transfer happens and they want me to come talk about that transfer. It’s a slow build, but right now, Get Up, First Take and SportsCenter have really been embraced.
It certainly helps ESPN to have a budding talent like Carter who can hold his own First take or provide the energy necessary to Get up.
And it certainly helps the sport beyond ClarkFuture stars like JuJu Watkins and Hannah Hidalgo represent a future for the sport at the highest level that can sometimes be hard to find in other sports.
(Sports Media with Richard Deitsch)
