Caitlin Clark became a household name last winter when she entertained basketball fans everywhere, male and female, young and old, with her talents, which allowed her to score 3,951 career points, the most all-time in women’s Division I NCAA history. When she left the University of Iowa to go to the WNBA as the number one overall pick, people wondered if the fandom would continue. The answer is yes.
Clark has guided the Indiana Fever to their first playoff appearance since 2016. She set a WNBA single-game record by tallying 19 assists. With two games remaining in the regular season, Clark managed to set a new WNBA high for assists in a single season. She is the only rookie to ever record a triple double, let alone two.
The Fever led the league in attendance for both home and away games. On multiple occasions, the opposition playing host to Indiana moved their game to a larger venue because the ticket demand was that great. If you dig deeper, Clark has created a movement with the next generation of hoopsters.
“Clark impacted my business in the seriousness that young girls are looking at basketball now,” said Steph Carideo, owner of the Steph Carideo Basketball Academy in Delaware County. Her business is entering its fifth year. Carideo, who played her college basketball at Philadelphia University, has 100 clients who see her weekly or biweekly. Since opening her doors when restrictions were lifted after the pandemic, Carideo says she has serviced 700-800 kids, not including the lectures she delivers at various basketball camps.
“The clientele base I had established was progressing very successfully. But I will continue to have my clients and grow my business because of Caitlin Clark’s impact on basketball,” she explained. “Basketball is a difficult sport for young girls to play from kindergarten until high school because of all the intricacies necessary: the physicality, passing, dribbling, scoring, defending. It takes a lot to be focused and driven to do all that. Kids aren’t interested in practicing as hard as possible because it’s too difficult.
“But now kids are looking at Clark as a role model and saying she did it; she’s doing it. I want to do that. Clark’s accolades aside, she is one of the greatest things that has happened to our sport. There have been a lot of great women’s basketball players who have tried, but she, to her credit, is the ONE that has impacted the sport’s worldwide interest, not just playing the sport, but playing at the highest level and taking it to a different competitive level.”
Carideo went on to explain that Clark has it all in terms of her basketball skill set, but she is also a “killer.”
“She goes out and competes every single day no matter what is being said about her or asked of her, she’s doing it,” Carideo said. “I love that these young girls are looking at her with such high regard and respect. It’s what the game is supposed to be about. People feel its authenticity and, therefore, will buy into it.
“I am not comparing myself in any way to Caitlin Clark, but from the business perspective, that is what these young girls are doing with me. These kids really believe it. It is not a trend. They aren’t told through the media to like her. They sit in front of the TV and watch this girl do what she does, and it looks effortless at times. And they want to be like her. They say wow, I connect to this.”
People connect to Carideo also, for several reasons. Carideo coached at multiple levels before starting the academy. She started her career as head coach at John. W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School in Philadelphia. She later became an assistant coach for the men’s team at Thomas Jefferson University. She has Division I women’s experience after spending time as an assistant at the University of Pennsylvania. And to round out a diversified resume, she had stints as a head coach both at Penn State Abington and Haverford College.
“I thought I had a unique basketball background,” Carideo shared. “I felt that a lot of people locally connected to me because of that. They wanted their daughters to be around someone who isn’t the same old, same old.”
Carideo grew her clientele by word of mouth. She does not have a website but shares success stories on social media. Brooke Wilson joined Carideo four years ago and trained with her throughout her Archbishop Carroll career. Wilson had multiple Division I offers but chose Army because she wanted a more rigorous challenge, in the way that only the United States Military Academy at West Point will provide.
“I think as a business model, it is sustainable because of the people,” Carideo said. “It’s like-minded people. The parents want to surround themselves with someone like me, and the kids see me and say this is what I want to do; this is who I want to be around. This is how I want to be pushed.”
The Caitlin Clark effect is here to stay, and the Steph Carideo Basketball Academy can say the same.
