UConn women’s basketball coach and 11-time national champion Geno Auriemma didn’t hold back on his thoughts of Caitlin Clark. He says the rookie has been set up for failure because of a “delusional” fanbase with unrealistic expectations.

UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma

UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma has run out of patience with the Caitlin Clark supporters who have placed sky-high expectations on the WNBA rookie. The 11-time national champion ripped “delusional” fans who believed the former Iowa star would immediately start running the league.

Auriemma was a guest on The Dan Patrick Show this week and was asked about Clark’s transition into the league. The longtime leader of the Huskies women’s basketball program didn’t hold back — but he didn’t immediatley talk about the rookie’s game.

Instead, Auriemma went off on the fans who placed unrealistic expectations on Clark.

“If you’re a great college player like Caitlin was, the delusional fanbase that follows her disrespected the WNBA players by saying, ‘She’s gonna go in that league and tear it apart,'” he said. “There were actually odds on — like she’s third or fourth in betting odds of being the MVP of the WNBA. These people are so disrespectful and so unknowledgeable and so stupid that it gives women’s basketball a bad name.

“So the kid was set up for failure right from the beginning. So, if you’re a WNBA player — and, believe me, I’ve coached the best and I’ve pissed them off a lot and they let me know about it. But they were tremendously disrespected.”

Clark has had a strong start to her career, averaging 15.6 points, 6.4 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game for the Indiana Fever. However, she’s appeared to have some serious trouble with the physical nature of the WNBA.

Auriemma referenced a comment made by Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi, who said it would take time for Clark to get adjusted to the league.

“Diana said it best, this kid’s in for a rude awakening. And they all jumped over her but they didn’t read the whole thing that she said,” he said. “This kid’s on the wrong team, she’s got the wrong skillset to handle the physicality of that league, and she’s a rookie. If you’re a WNBA player — if you’re any kind of player — you’re gonna make a statement.”

Because Clark been in the media spotlight for so long, many believe she has a “target” on her back. It’s been a topic of conversation since the start of the season, but reached a boiling point last Saturday, when Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter body-checked Clark and drew a flagrant foul.

That play was an outlier, but there have been a lot of hard fouls and trash talk on the floor directed towards Clark. But Auriemma says that the Fever rookie does her fair share of chirping, as well.

“I think she’s handling it great. I think she talks a lot of shit. And she gets a lot of shit back. So she deserves everything she gets because she gives it as good as she gets it,” he said. “She’s just not built for the physicality of this league and she’s not quick enough to get away from the physicality. So, there’s a lot of learning curve, like Diana said. And when she gets it, she has elite skills that are gonna really help her, but she needs to be on a better team and she needs to be more experienced. That will come.

“But for these ridiculous fans who had her slotted as the next Diana now, they’re out of their mind.”