The older and older I get, the more and more I tend to think about my high school basketball team. Sometimes, if I think hard enough, I can still smell the gym and hear the creaks and moans of the tan floorboards under my Nike Shox. I can hear the “THUD” of the four green doors that led to the hallways of my school. I can still feel the butterflies in the pit of my stomach that I would have every time I got into the lay-up line when we had to face off against our town rival (Plainfield South).

It feels like I was rushing out of that unfortunately infamous back tunnel (long story for another day) with my green and white warmups with “33” on the chest both yesterday and a million years ago all the same.

I can’t tell you how much I miss it. How much I miss being a part of a team like that. How much I miss the bullshitting. How much I miss the passion. How much I miss being pushed in little ways to get the most out of my game. How much I missed pushing my teammates. How much I miss the sinking feeling in my stomach when I would wake on Saturday mornings after a hard loss the night before and knowing full well I was about to get my ass kicked.

They don’t tell you enough how little of THAT you get when you’re an adult. Sure you’re on “teams” at work but it’s not the same.

You don’t really have one consistent group of individuals all striving for something bigger. Striving to not only keep up with, but elevate the ceiling that was left behind by the juniors and seniors before you and those that came before them.

There was a standard. But standards are always able to be raised. And that was the goal.

It may have been a grind at times and I know I resented my coaches for how hard they were. But now? Oh what I wouldn’t give to have someone be in my ear trying to motivate me like that again.

Special times.

As I mentioned above, the collective “they” (aka the wiser and more, say, veteran presences in our lives) don’t tell you enough to soak all of that in while you’re actually in it. They don’t tell you enough about how fast it really does go. They don’t tell you enough how eventually your body will ultimately start to deceive you and despite all of that joy you get from diving after every loose ball now, pretty soon you’ll have a hard time getting up after changing your daughters diaper.

I suppose even if they did tell us, we still would’ve scoffed it off.

Oh the luxuries of being young(er).

Anyone that has participated on a team (sports, academic, work) that was able to successfully put together even a mildly successful run of wins knows how special and unique and complex and rare those times, those people, those situations truly are.

You never fully realize it or grasp it in the moment.

I suppose only time allows you the opportunity to have that 20/20 vision.

I say all of this because I kind of already feel that way about the last two years with Iowa women’s basketball. I feel like I was part of this in the smallest of ways. I feel like I’m going to look back on it with such respect and gratitude just like I do when I think about my own playing days and athletic accomplishments.

I’m sure I’m not alone in that feeling.

I also say all of this because I truly hope this incredible group of women have taken the time to understand and appreciate what they did together. I’m sure Lisa Bluder and her coaching staff have constantly expressed this message throughout this year and especially so during this run back to the National Championship, but I truly wish each and every one of those players were able to slow it all down and listen. I hope they were able to soak it all in. I hope they had the foresight and understanding to realize just how hard and how special this all really is.

So much has to go right. So many different people from different backgrounds, colors and creeds all have to come together as a unit and take one giant leap of faith after giant leap of faith after giant leap of faith in order for something like this to work…TWICE.

And when that’s not enough, perhaps even the cosmos need to align a little too:

“I think just reflecting back and soaking in everything that I was able to do because basically anybody other than me and Coach Bluder never thought this was possible.”

I used to not believe in fate as a kid…but boy do I believe in it now.

So much had to go right for all of this to happen at Iowa. If one thing would’ve gone differently, Caitlin Clark is probably at UConn.

Just one conversation could’ve changed all of our lives completely.

Isn’t that kind of crazy to think about? If Geno Auriemma makes a phone call or takes a plane ride to Des Moines, I would probably be sitting here bitching about the Iowa quarterback situation and yelling into the void like I normally do.

I should really send him flowers.

Had he taken a peak at 22, I probably wouldn’t have a million pictures of my kid dressed in a black “22” jersey. I wouldn’t have written what I believe are some of the best pieces I’ve ever put out to you all. I wouldn’t understand how BIG of a moment this really was for women’s athletics.

My eyes would still be shut.

But because everything aligned, I instead got to watch Caitlin Clark and Gabbie Marshall and Kate Martin and Hannah Stuelke and Sydney Affolter and Molly Davis and Kylie Feuerbach and Addison O’Grady and Monika Czinano or McKenna Warnock shine together.

And yes, they shined together.

Everyone knows that Caitlin Clark is special. I don’t really need to go through all of the accolades anymore. It’s not debatable despite everyone trying to do exactly that. You can take your arguments and have them look into the eclipse. Nobody has meant more or will mean more to women’s college basketball than she will. She is the single greatest women’s college basketball player of all time…even if she’s missing a ring.

I’m already making plans to go to New York with another Girl Dad and his daughters to see her play the Liberty (and I don’t know if I’d travel to New York for $5,000 cash and a free meal).

But that’s the pull of CC.

Hell, SNL did an entire opening sketch about her and the gravity she has in the national zeitgeist (and yes I realize I may be one of the last people on this earth that think that’s both one of the coolest pieces of this entire stretch and a true barometer on how CRAZY this whole thing has become).

But what’s even cooler to me right now is how much those little moments with everyone else mattered, too. Caitlin was the spotlight and deservedly so, but that doesn’t mean for one second that what those other women did all year long beside her will ever be forgotten.

No sir.

No ma’am.

Those women made her better. Those women raised their level of play to match hers night in and night out.

I’m sorry for beating the same drum again…but man is that special.

CC said as much above and has for her entire career at Iowa – there is no CC without Lisa Bluder or her teammates.

And there is surely no back-to-back national championship appearances without those teammates that made plays when she couldn’t. That did the dirty work to get the ball back in her hands. That defended like their life was on the line. That did all the little things that go so unnoticed to the average viewer.

I suppose I didn’t realize it then, but I realize it now… We truly got to see their own individual GOAT performances night in and night out, too. Each and every one of them achieved a level I bet they never even thought possible.

I guess that’s why they say a rising tide lifts all boats.

And it’s those moments, those times, those memories that they (and us) will all come back to. Sure, they (and we) will talk and think about the insanity that was Caitlin Clark and all of those buckets that send chills down your spine.

BUT the goosebumps will also come when thinking about Gabbie Marshall’s blocked shot against West Virginia or Hannah Stuelke’s graceful performance against UConn or all of those Dirk like one-legged fade aways Kate Martin hit in CRUCIAL moments or every single time Sydney Affolter just made a fucking play after stepping into the starting lineup after Molly Davis unfortunately went down with an injury.

I could keep going. I’m sure you all will in the comments below.

And I suppose that’s the point here. Drink it all in. Savor what we just witnessed.

Everyone.

This season I’ve talked a lot about being lucky and how truly blessed we are as Hawkeye fans. How fortunate it has been getting to see this all take place on our campus and in our city. But now that the journey is over and a new chapter of Iowa basketball is about to begin, I think we’re just as fortunate to be able to have shared these memories with the women that made them.

They pushed and pulled and earned everything they accomplished this season and we all got to indulge in their rewards.

They don’t tell you enough how beautiful it all really is…

The don’t tell you enough how important it is to all of our lives…

They don’t tell you enough how much it all meant…

They don’t tell you enough…until it’s all over