Kansas State HC Jerome Tang shares hilarious story on assistant coach's "Caitlin Clark" reference for Iowa's Payton Sandfort

Payton Sandfort and the Iowa Hawkeyes defeated the Kansas Wildcats 91-82 in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament and Kansas head coach Jerome Tang said his assistant referred to Sandfort as "Caitlin Clark.” Sandfort was the top scorer in the game and Tang shared that the comparison was the perfect description of the Iowa star.

Hawkeyes forward Sandfort scored a career-high 30 points and 12 rebounds in his 37 minutes of play. He's averaging 16.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists this season as a backbone of Iowa's offense.

Now in his third season with the Hawkeyes, his consistent scoring ability and game-changing performances earned him a comparison to NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer Caitlin Clark.

Tang shared the comments about Sandfort in the post-game press conference. A reporter asked him about the biggest thing that changed defensively from the first half, to which he referenced Payton Sandfort's jersey number 20.

"We found number 20," he said. "He was like at the top of the scout report, had a big picture of him. You know, in fact, our coach who did the scout referred to him as their Caitlin Clark."

Tang further reflected on the loss and how Iowa's top scorer turned things around.

"I don't know that he could have given a better description, right? Like, 'Hey fellas, we got to find this young fella and somehow we lost.' He got going and when you let a good player see it go in, man, it just the basket just gets big and so the credit to that young fellow."

Ben Krikkle bolstered Iowa’s offense alongside Payton Sandfort by contributing 24 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Owen Freeman added 10 points and Tony Perkins chipped in nine. Dai Dai Ames led the fightback for Kansas State with 16 points, three rebounds and five assists.

When Payton Sandfort was awestruck by Caitlin Clark as a kid

The comparison of Jerome Tang’s assistant must have made Payton Sandfort fans happy. Clark and Sandfort previously shared Big Ten Player of the Week conference honors in the first week of March 2024. It was Clark’s 29th in her career and 11th this season. On the other hand, it was Sandfort's first.

While Clark is way ahead, she's been troubling Payton since childhood with her game. The Iowa men's star recently shared how Caitlin Clark stunned him with her abilities on the basketball court as a kid.

"I was like, 'Oh my g*sh, is this what all girls are like?'"

He also described how Clark's genius had an emotional impact on him when the two played together in second and third grade:

"You know, obviously I was an emotional kid, like, wanted to win so bad ... I was just devastated."

The Iowa women's star is soaring high in the basketball world right now, and her current run of form, which seems to date back to grade school, doesn't seem likely to end soon.