UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma was on the Dan Patrick Show on June 6 and was asked about Caitlin Clark.
During Auriemma’s rant, he proclaimed, “This rookie class isn’t even one of the best rookie classes in the last ten years!”
"The delusional fanbase that follows her disrespected the #WNBA players by saying she's going to go in that league and tear it a part… The kid was set up for failure right from the beginning."
-Geno Auriemma talks Caitlin Clark pic.twitter.com/HkBwKuVS4E
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) June 6, 2024
Perhaps he was correct.
Clark, Angel Reese and the rest of the 2024 rookie class were going to have to earn it in the WNBA like everyone else had. Maybe he was being protective of the legacies his former players have built in the WNBA. Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, Maya Moore, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier – this list goes on and on.
So how good is this rookie class? It certainly wasn’t as great as the 2002 class. Four of the top six selections were from Auriemma’s undefeated national championship team. The one starter who wasn’t picked was Diana Taurasi. She was the top pick in 2004 after guiding UConn to a 139-8 record and three consecutive national championships.
The WNBA was a different league then. Rookies were able to have a far greater impact than they possibly can today.
Is Auriemma’s assessment correct? Where does the 2024 rookie class rank in the last ten years?
To view Part I of the Best WNBA Rookie Classes of All-Time, click below.
https://theleadsm.com/the-best-wnba-rookie-classes-of-all-time-part-i/
Criteria
There were 34 regular-season games played from 2003 to 2019.
Then, the league shortened the 2020 season to 22 games due to COVID-19. The number of games jumped to 32 in 2021, 36 in 2022, and 40 in 2023. This season, teams played about 24 of the 40 total games before the Olympic break.
Basketball Reference’s “WNBA Rate Statistic Requirements” were used and adjusted for the number of games played in the WNBA regular season each season.
The WNBA was formed in 1997. Technically, all of qualifying players that season were considered “rookies”. The percentage of rookies remained high until 2001. Since then, rookies have represented about 16 percent of the qualifying players in the league. The term “rookie” will be used for any first-year player since 2001.
Each rookie class in the last ten seasons was evaluated using the five-member All-Rookie teams. Head coaches vote on All-Rookie and cannot vote for their own players, and the team is positionless.
Each player was evaluated on their rookie season only in order to compare with players in the 2024 class. Immediate star power, basic and advanced statistics via Basketball Reference, league awards and team impact were analyzed.
Class of 2024
The 2024 class has four clear players at the top – Clark (Indiana), Angel Reese (Chicago), Rickea Jackson (Los Angeles) and Aaliyah Edwards (Washington).
The fifth player would have most likely been Cameron Brink (Los Angeles) if it wasn’t for her season-ending injury after only 15 games. Kamilla Cardoso (Chicago), Leonie Fiebich (New York), Jacy Sheldon (Dallas), Sevgi Uzun (Dallas) and Julie Vanloo (Washington) will vie for the last spot on the All-Rookie team.
For this evaluation, Cardoso will serve as the fifth member of the class.
CAITLIN CLARK (IND): 17.1 PTS, 5.8 REB, 8.2 AST, 1.5 STL
After an up-and-down start to the season for Clark, she has found her groove.
Clark made the All-Star team after averaging 17.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists in her first 26 games as a pro. Sabrina Ionescu (2022 and 2023) and Alyssa Thomas (2023) are the only players in WNBA history to average 15 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Chelsea Gray and Alyssa Thomas, both in 2023, are the only players to average at least 15 points and seven assists.
She also became the first rookie in WNBA history to record a triple-double.
Caitlin Clark becomes the first rookie in WNBA history to record a triple-double with 15 PTS, 10 REB, and 10 AST 3 minutes into the 4Q vs. the New York Liberty 🙌
Clark is also the first player in Indiana’s franchise history to record a triple-double #WelcometotheW pic.twitter.com/eJaL10uRws
— WNBA (@WNBA) July 6, 2024
Only three rookies in history have averaged more than five assists – Sue Bird (6.0 in 2002), Julie Allemand (5.8 in 2020) and Temeka Johnson (5.2 in 2005). Clark, who is averaging 8.2 assists, is looking to shatter Bird’s rookie record. Vanloo is averaging 5.1 assists and would be the fifth among rookies in history.
Not only are Clark’s assists impressive for a rookie, but she is currently fifth all-time. Only two other players in history have averaged eight assists – Courtney Vandersloot and Ticha Penicheiro.
WNBA record for most assists per game:
- Courtney Vandersloot – 9.95 (2020)
- Courtney Vandersloot – 9.09 (2019)
- Courtney Vandersloot – 8.60 (2018)
- Courtney Vandersloot – 8.59 (2021)
- Caitlin Clark – 8.19 (2024)
- Courtney Vandersloot – 8.07 (2017)
- Courtney Vandersloot – 8.05 (2023)
- Ticha Penicheiro – 8.00 (2002)
Clark’s scoring average is the 10th highest for a rookie and fifth highest for a rookie since 2015. Most of her scoring production is from long range. She is on pace to set rookie records for most three-pointers made per game and three-pointers attempted per game.
The knock on Clark this year has been her inefficiency. She is shooting below-average from three-point, and her turnover percentage of 27.1% is currently the second highest in the league this season.
It is not uncommon for rookies to struggle with turnovers. She is outside of the top 20 among rookies in TO%. Vandersloot and Allemand had higher turnover percentages as rookies. So did legendary point guard Lindsay Whalen.
ANGEL REESE (CHI): 13.5 PTS, 11.9 REB, 1.4 STL
Another All-Star rookie has made an immediate impact in the WNBA this season.
Angel Reese had a WNBA-record consecutive double-double streak of 15 games already this season. She’s been dominating the boards, leading the league in offensive rebounding and second in rebounds per game. The bulk of her scoring comes from put-backs and free throws. Her 0.423 free-throw rate is fourth in the league this season.
Angel Reese today:
10 points
10 rebounds
1 block
1 assist
5/17Continues her record setting double-double streak to 15 games.
This one was impressive because of the toughness she showed battling through pain, coming back in to get it done, #skytown #wnba pic.twitter.com/TesbnuSaY6
— Sky Lead (@SkyLeadSM) July 12, 2024
Only Cheryl Ford in 2003 and Tina Charles in 2010 have averaged double-doubles as rookies for an entire season. Reese is on pace to become the third.
Additionally, Yolanda Griffith (1999, 2000, 2001) and Natalie Williams (2000) are the only players in history to average at least 4.5 offensive rebounds per game. Reese is currently averaging 4.7.
Like Clark, Reese has had some troubles adapting to the increased size and speed from college to the WNBA. Although she has drawn the sixth-most shooting fouls this season with 55, she has been blocked a WNBA-high 56 times. That is 25 more than Seattle’s Ezi Magbegor in third.
A’ja Wilson was blocked 1.52 times per game as a rookie in 2018. That is the current record high among all players since 2018. Los Angeles forward Dearica Hamby is on pace to shatter Wilson’s record. Hamby is getting blocked 2.08 times per game this season.
Reese has been blocked an absurd 2.33 times per game. As a result, her 40.9% two-point percentage is the second worst in the league among qualifying players, and she is only 2-10 from three-point range.
Balancing the good with the bad is part of being a rookie. Reese’s energy and competitiveness has certainly fit well with what first-year head coach Teresa Weatherspoon is building in Chicago. Reese’s team-high 2.7 win shares (WS) leads all rookies – well ahead of Clark’s 1.2 WS.
THE REST OF THE BEST
Rickea Jackson is third in rookie scoring this season at 11.4 points behind Clark and Reese.
She also has the third-highest usage percentage among rookies. Unfortunately, that hasn’t translated to wins for Los Angeles. Jackson’s 0.2 WS is seventh among rookies and only 0.1 ahead of teammate Brink who has played in nine less games.
Auriemma’s former star forward Aaliyah Edwards has also had a solid rookie season. She is averaging 8.7 points and 5.9 rebounds. Edwards, Reese, Clark and Kamilla Cardoso (8.1 points, 7.8 rebounds) are the only four rookies this season averaging at least eight points and five rebounds.
Edwards leads all rookies in field-goal percentage (49.0%). Cardoso is in the top 15 in the league in offensive rebounding and blocks.
TOP ROOKIE CLASSES (2015-2024)
Where does the 2024 rookie class rank from the last 10 years? Was Auriemma correct in saying it wasn’t “one of the best”?
As good as Reese and Clark have been, the quality of the depth of this rookie class has thwarted its place in history.
None of the best rookies are in contention for any major individual awards like MVP and Defensive Player of the Year. There aren’t any impactful rookies on the rosters of any teams with winning records.
Which classes rank ahead of the 2024 class from the past ten years?
1. CLASS OF 2016
Breanna Stewart (SEA), Moriah Jefferson (SAS), Imani McGee-Stafford (CHI), Aerial Powers (DAL), Tiffany Mitchell (IND)
Another of Auriemma’s legendary players made an immediate splash in the WNBA.
Stewart led the Huskies to a 151-5 record and four national championships. She was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player all four years and won the Naismith College Player of the Year three times.
Her unique skill set and size fit the WNBA. Seattle selected her with the first overall pick. Stewart averaged 18.3 points (fifth in the league), 9.3 rebounds (second), 1.9 blocks (third), 3.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game. She also finished fourth in free throws made and attempted per game. She led the league in minutes played, finished seventh with a 22.9 PER and fourth with 5.7 WS. Her adjusted win shares ranks fifth all-time among rookies.
Stewart finished sixth in MVP voting, second in Defensive Player of the Year, and was named 2nd Team All-WNBA and 2nd Team All-Defense. She improved the Storm’s record by six wins from the previous season. It was one of the greatest rookie seasons in WNBA history.
Jefferson started all 34 games for the San Antonio Stars (now the Las Vegas Aces) and finished fourth in the league with 4.2 APG. She is one of only 13 rookies in history to average four assists per game, and her 2.41 A:TO is second on that list behind Jackie Young in 2019. She also averaged 13.9 points and was fourth in the league with 1.6 steals per game.
Chicago was one of four teams in 2016 that ended the regular season with a winning record. McGee-Stafford, a 6-foot-7 center, started 16 regular-season games and all five playoff games. Her 2.1 WS was third among rookies in 2016 behind Stewart and Connecticut’s Jonquel Jones.
McGee-Stafford finished seventh in the league with 1.4 blocks per contest, eighth with a 55.4% field-goal percentage, and was second to Stewart among rookies in 2016 averaging 5.6 rebounds.
Powers was stuck on the depth chart behind Skylar Diggins-Smith and Odyssey Sims, but she made the best of it. Averaging 10.4 points with some sharp shooting from long range, Powers finished second in Sixth Woman of the Year behind Jantel Lavender of Los Angeles. Powers’s 25.2% usage percentage (USG%) ranked tenth in the league.
Probably the biggest All-Rookie snub in history was Jonquel Jones in 2016. The Sun center came off the bench and placed fifth in Sixth Woman of the Year, but still placed fourth in PER. The three ahead of her – Nneka Ogwumike, Elena Delle Donne, and Maya Moore – were all named First Team All-WNBA.
She led the league in offensive rebounding percentage, was second in block percentage, and was ninth in true shooting percentage.
2. CLASS OF 2019
Napheesa Collier (MIN), Arike Ogunbowale (DAL), Teaira McCowan (IND), Jackie Young (LVA), Brianna Turner (PHO)
Ogunbowale finished third in the league in scoring in 2019 by averaging 19.1 points. Only three other rookies (Seimone Augustus in 2006, A’ja Wilson in 2018, and Cappie Pondexter in 2006) have averaged more. She was 10th in MVP voting but finished second to Collier for Rookie of the Year.
Collier played for a winning team and, like she has throughout her career, did a little bit of everything. The former UConn great averaged 13.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.9 steals and 0.9 blocks per game. Her 6.1 adjusted win shares (win shares per 40 games) ranks her seventh among rookies.
McCowan is one of five other rookies to average 10 points and nine rebounds. Her 3.2 offensive rebounds per game rank fourth among rookies (Reese and Cardoso are both on pace to average more). Like Cardoso, her size immediately translated to the WNBA. She had a 0.652 FTr which led the league by a wide margin.
Young started every game for a very good Aces team. Her 4.5 assists per game ranked 10th in the league, and her 2.89 assist-to-turnover ratio (A:TO) is the highest among rookies who averaged at least four assists.
Turner filled a similar role to one she has performed admirably throughout her career – defender and rebounder. She was top 20 in the league in offensive rebounding percentage, total rebounding percentage and block percentage.
3. CLASS OF 2024
One could make the case the 2018 rookie class (A’ja Wilson, Ariel Atkins, Azura Stevens, Diamond DeShields, Kelsey Mitchell) was better, but the 2024 class will probably finish as the third-best rookie class in the last ten years.
With over 60% of the season completed, there is still room for improvement. However, it seems highly improbable that it can jump ahead of the classes of 2016 and 2019. In fact, there is a better chance that it falls below the 2018 class.
Auriemma has proven to be an incredible evaluator of talent. His allegiance to former players like Stewart and Collier could also influence his opinions.
It seems like he was correct. The impact off the court that the 2024 rookie class has had is by far the biggest in history. But the impact on the court has not been as great as other classes.
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