‘Clarkies’ converge in downtown Minneapolis for Big Ten tournament

Sisters Eliona and Eliza Sefogah woke up Friday morning thinking they’d be headed to school. Instead, their mom told them they were going to downtown Minneapolis to see Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes face Penn State in the NCAA Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament.

“They were like, ‘Are you serious?’” said Leslie Sefogah of Plymouth, as she waited in line amid a growing group of fans in a downtown skyway along with her 10- and 8-year-old daughters and her own mother — a Hawkeyes season ticket holder — hours ahead of the late afternoon game at Target Center.

Sefogah said she laid out two Clark No. 22 T-shirts on her daughters’ beds to let them know they were in for a surprise. They were shocked, she said: ”We’ve been watching them all season on the TV, and it’s different to see them in person.”

Waiting fans set up lawn chairs in the skyway, playing cards and handing out friendship bracelets. Reagan Cross, 12, said he made 311 bracelets ahead of the tournament, stringing together yellow and black beads with basketball charms that spelled out “Iowa,” “Hawkeyes,” and the names of every player and coach on the team his family loves. Jodi and Matt Cross of Pella, Iowa, helped their son make the friendship bracelets, a trend based on a Taylor Swift lyric.

“We decided to do it for the tournament and just hand them out,” Reagan said. “I was born a Hawkeye, and I’ll always be a Hawkeye.”

By 4:30 p.m., the line of fans waiting to get into Target Center stretched an estimated half-mile, spanning five blocks in the Minneapolis skyway.

Diehard Hawkeyes stressed that they’re fans of all the players, not just NCAA all-time leading scorer Clark. But the star guard has created a following unlike any seen before in women’s college basketball. This year’s Big Ten women’s tournament sold out for the first time ever.

For younger kids who look up to Clark, the excitement surrounding Iowa is all they’ve ever known. But for generations of Hawkeyes and longtime women’s basketball fans, Clark is bringing long overdue recognition to both the team and the sport.

“It’s unbelievable watching her live, and the whole team is just phenomenal,” said season ticket holder June Brady, of Garner, Iowa, who took her spot in the front of the general admission line at 5:50 a.m. Friday.

“Women’s basketball is being elevated,” Brady said. ”People finally get it, I think.”

Lori Feistner, the Sefogah sisters’ grandmother, said it’s cool to see her grandkids catch the Hawkeyes bug. Eliona and Eliza said in unison that they were most excited to see Clark.

“It’s just amazing how she plays. Sometimes when I watch her I don’t even believe that it’s real,” Eliona said. “When she does stuff, like made the shot to become the number one scorer in the NCAA, it was so amazing she had scored all those points.”

The game tickets held by the Brown siblings of Moorhead, Minn. — Elena, 12, Eden, 11, Everlee, 6, and Tommy, 5 — were stocking stuffers they received this Christmas to see Clark play.

“I think it’s really cool how she can shoot those really deep shots,” said Elena, making nothing but net at City Centre where the Big Ten set up a half-court for fans to shoot around.

Mom Jamie Brown said the family watches Gopher basketball and the Timberwolves. “It’s all basketball all the time,” she said. “But it’s really fun for them to have a role model to look up to when they’re out in the driveway trying to shoot threes already.”

The Thompson family of Minnetrista joined friends who flew in from Kalamazoo, Mich., for the tournament.

“We’re all from Iowa and to see somebody like Caitlin Clark bring generations together of basketball fans is kind of fun,” said Carrie Thompson, whose 9-year-old daughter Kensington is now inspired to try out for basketball because of Clark.

Condra Allred, principal of Cleveland Elementary School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said that Clark and the entire team has inspired girls and boys alike.

“Every young girl now wants to be like CC, you know, No. 22,” Allred said. “[But] you see all the students get excited. ... Young boys in Iowa are looking up to her ... The kids love her.”

In the crowd ahead of tip-off, young girls held up signs that said they will be the next Caitlin Clarks and that No. 22 would look better in a Minnesota Lynx WNBA jersey.

A dozen strangers waiting in line for hours got to know each other so well that they bought Lynx tickets and plan to return this spring to Target Center. Kara Philips, 47, of Overland Park, Kan., who flew in at 3:15 a.m. and quickly joined the line, was among the new friends.

“It’s an amazing movement for women’s basketball, and it’s about time,” said Philips, wearing one of Reagan’s bracelets. “Caitlin might bring people to the arena, but once they get there, I think they fall in love with all the players.”

Friday’s game happened to coincide with International Women’s Day, a fact that was not lost on longtime Hawkeyes fan Amanda Mosley of Iowa City.

“It’s been past time to do something that’s this big and this exciting for women,” said Mosley, sporting a custom jean jacket with I♀wa on the back. “I played college ball in a small school and didn’t really feel like anybody cared about it. And so to watch people show up like this ... I’m glad that we can see it and be a part of it.”