The impact of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese on men's basketball

College basketball is coming to the end of its short-lived era as a matriarchal institution, but is it really over?

The 2024 college basketball freshman class is entering the sport in the aftermath of a historic shift in popularity: This year, for the first time in March Madness history, more people tuned in to watch the women's final than the men's.

The women's NCAA final was watched by 18.9 million people, while the men's final was watched by just 14.8 million people.

There's no denying that Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are the reason why: Their combination of star power and controversy has skyrocketed women's basketball, sparking fierce online debates, raising sensitive issues in social and political conversations, and leading the way to not one but two consecutive Final Fours.

If there's currently a popularity battle between the two sports, the next generation of men's basketball stars are turning their attention to the opposing team as they begin their college careers.

For some of the best men's athletes, the lines between sports are becoming blurred.

“I think we're all the same and people don't categorize us as different because at the end of the day we're the same people,” said Dylan Harper, the nation's No. 2 player in the enrollment class of 2024. Harper turned down offers from powerhouse programs Duke, Indiana and Kansas to commit to Rutgers University.

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Harper told Fox News Digital at Rutgers University men's basketball media day on Tuesday that he's been getting advice from Michael Jordan since he was a child through various phone calls set up by his father, Ron Harper Sr. Harper won five NBA championships and three as Jordan's teammate with the Chicago Bulls in the late 1990s. But Jordan's advice is only half the story. Dylan's mother, Maria Harper, has worked as a girls' basketball coach since Dylan was a child, and Dylan has drawn inspiration from the sport for many years.

Now that he's a college player, half of his experience may be applied to leadership roles.

When asked if he looked at Clark and Reese as role models for leadership during his time at Rutgers, Harper said, “We all aspire to be leaders in every way that we can.”

Harper isn't alone among the top freshmen and teammates.

Ace Bailey, ranked No. 3 in the nation this year, committed to Rutgers before Harper and turned down an offer from powerhouse Kentucky. Bailey told Fox News Digital in a press conference on Tuesday that, unlike Harper, she started following women's basketball “in the last three years” because of players like Clark and Reese.

“Their leadership, especially Clark, he brings a lot of energy to get the team going, whether it's long shots or jump shots,” Bailey said.

Bailey then pointed out certain parts of Clark's game, particularly how he talks to opponents on the court, especially against Reese and another former LSU rival of Clark's, Frauje Johnson.

“She talks negatively about her teammates, but she talks positively about her teammates, especially Angel Reese. Fraugier, they're all so competitive. They just compete and love the game,” Bailey said.

Reese and Johnson defeated Clark's Iowa Hokies in the 2023 national championship game but lost to Iowa in this year's Final Four.

Clark's reputation as a swearer was publicly rebuked by Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon, who said of Clark and Reese during a June 27 press conference, “They're always fighting and nobody's more of a swearer than Kaitlyn… they're from a different generation!”

But Bailey is also impressed with how Clark handles swearing.

“She doesn't care what other people say. You can tell she missed a shot one game, but the next game she was on a roll. She doesn't care about other people. She knows her abilities and she's just getting better and better,” Bailey said.

Fever must sign “enforcer” to “protect” Caitlin Clark, says former NBA All-Star who has served on both sides of the role

Rutgers Scarlet Knights five-star freshman recruit Ace Bailey watches the Scarlet Knights play against the Stonehill Skyhawks at Jersey Mike's Arena on Dec. 30, 2023 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

Despite Clark's reputation, the fact that she was unanimously named the WNBA Rookie of the Year this year and her trash-talking skills, Bailey said if she could talk to one of the biggest stars in women's basketball, she would still turn to Reese for advice.

“I'll probably talk to Angel Reese, her competitive nature for sure, and what drives her,” Bailey said.

As the team's top recruits, Harper and Bailey aren't as focused on garnering national attention individually, as Clark and Reese were last year.

When asked what they want to show the public with all the national coverage the program deserves this year, both Bailey and Harper insisted the spotlight would be on their teammates, not them.

“You can't win alone, it has to be a team effort,” Harper said.

“I want them to see my team!” Bailey added.

The freshman and head coach Steve Pikiell are counting on this approach to keep the team calm and focused as they make a historic run through this year's NCAA Tournament, but it remains to be seen whether it will be enough to help the men's tournament compete with the women's in television ratings.

Though Clark and Reese have moved on to the WNBA, women's college basketball remains anchored by high-profile stars such as Paige Bueckers, JuJu Watkins, Haley Van Lith and Johnson. This is because, unlike the pipelines in men's college basketball and the NBA, the WNBA requires players to be at least 22 years old, eligible to enter college, and have graduated from a four-year college. The NBA's one-and-done rule, which allows players to enter the draft after just one season in college, has long robbed the sport of long-term careers for some of the top professional prospects.

Harper, Bailey and Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 ranked recruit in the country this year, are projected to be the biggest stars in men's college basketball this season, but all three could be in the NBA Draft by 2025.

Beyond that, the women's game may have another fundamental advantage in attracting TV viewers, said Holly Rowe, ESPN's women's college football and basketball play-by-play announcer.

Lowe said last month that men's basketball should consider rule changes to bring it closer to women's basketball.

“I don't know if the men's game will overtake the women's,” Rowe said. “I think it's good that the women's game is quarter-time. The game moves faster, it's more exciting. When you watch a men's college basketball game and then you watch a women's game, you think, 'I don't know why, but the women's game has a better flow.' So I think the rules could be changed in the men's game to make the game flow a little better.”

Men's college basketball has been played with two halves instead of four quarters since 1954, one of the sport's iconic structures that sets it apart from other levels of basketball, but Rowe believes following the same four-quarter structure used in the NBA, WNBA and women's college basketball would enhance the viewing experience.

Whether or not the NCAA changes the men's rules to be identical to the women's at some point in the next few years will say a lot about how much of an impact Clark and Reese had on college basketball during their fierce collegiate rivalry.

This may be a sign of just how big an impact Clark can have on the world of professional sports.

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Angel Reese (right) and Caitlin Clark watch the second half of a game against the Chicago Sky at Wintrust Arena on June 23, 2024 in Chicago. (Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

In just her rookie season in the league, Clarke has proven she can take the WNBA to a level where it can compete with the NFL, long considered the unbeatable American sports giant in terms of television ratings.

Earlier this month, Clark's Indiana Fever played in front of a television audience of 1.26 million people in a Week 1 NFL Friday night game against the Minnesota Lynx, which was played at the same time as the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers game.

But things got even more unusual on Sunday: Clark's first playoff game, against the Connecticut Sun, was played during multiple NFL Sunday afternoon games and averaged 1.84 million viewers despite Clark's game being won by a huge margin in the second half.

Reese wasn't even Clark's opponent in those matchups.

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