didn’t know if the date was picked since Clark had expressed she was already planning to be in attendance.

In any case, to USC and beyond, it’s meaningful.

“I think that was Caitlin’s preference, which is cool,” Gottlieb said Tuesday of the ceremony being scheduled for USC-Iowa. “I think she has an understanding for the bigger picture of women’s basketball.”

“I think the crowd that they’ll get, even if it wasn’t her jersey retirement,” USC’s head coach continued, “is a testament to the excitement that she’s brought to women’s basketball everywhere.”

Indeed, Iowa announced back in September it had sold out all women’s basketball home games for the second consecutive season — months after Clark was already long gone pro to the WNBA’s Indiana Fever. Still, anticipation for her return to Iowa is at a “frenzy,” as head coach Jan Jensen put it to local media Friday. The cheapest single-person ticket available on reseller SeatGeek, as of Friday night, was $136; it was $183 on TicketMaster.

“I’m glad I don’t have to pay for a ticket,” Gottlieb cracked Tuesday.

Sunday will come a year too late, ultimately, for Clark and Watkins to go toe-to-toe on the hardwood, as USC came one game away from facing Iowa in the Final Four last season before being bounced by UConn and fellow transcendent guard Paige Bueckers. And Iowa (14-7, 4-6 Big Ten) isn’t quite the juggernaut that lit up programs across the nation in Clark’s tenure, navigating a transitional season after Clark’s graduation and longtime coach Lisa Bluder’s retirement.

Since Clark offered herself as a resource to Gottlieb in May, in helping her and the 19-year-old Watkins navigate the particulars of her exploding visibility, Gottlieb hasn’t talked with her much outside of a few text exchanges during the WNBA season. But this afternoon will bind another tie between Clark and Watkins, torch-bearers in this golden era of women’s collegiate basketball, as the eyes of thousands at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and the eyes of thousands more watching TV will naturally fall upon Watkins and USC.

“We shy away from nothing, in terms of the attention and the challenges,” Gottlieb said Tuesday.

“And that’ll be a great challenge.”