Former University of Iowa defensive back Cooper DeJean is confident that he could beat his former classmate, Caitlin Clark, in a 1-on-1 game of basketball. He doubled down on his claims during an appearance on the Up & Adams Show on Wednesday.
Kay Adams disagrees!
DeJean, the No. 40 overall pick in the NFL Draft, is the first white cornerback in the league since Jason Sehorn in 2003. Troy Apke converted from safety to corner for a few games with Washington in 2021, but that doesn’t count. It is the former Hawkeyes star who is set to break the 20-year-old+ streak.
Prior to his time at Iowa, DeJean was a four-sport athlete at Battle Creek-Ida Grove in basketball, baseball, football and track. His hoops highlights are legit.
Thus, when asked back in April about whether he could beat Clark — the greatest scorer in college basketball history — in a game of 1-on-1, DeJean was fully confident in his ability to do so. Fans immediately started to debate the hypothetical matchup. Naturally, there was a very specific subset of folks (you know the one) who think he can win.
Clark does not agree with those people. She texted her former classmate to let him know that there was no chance he could win. There is no beef between them. It’s all fun and games, until they get on the hardwood.
I mean, I was really just answering the question, but obviously, you know, Caitlin’s a special play. She’s done so much for women’s basketball and the University of Iowa in general. So I’ve had nothing but respect for her. She took a shot back at me after she texted me and said she didn’t think that I could beat her. I’ll let her say that but year, I mean, I think it’d be fun though if we got to play each other.
— Cooper DeJean on Up & Adams
When Kay Adams asked DeJean to double down, he did. When DeJean flipped the question back on Adams and asked her if she thinks he can beat Clark, she said no.
DeJean proceeded to tout his basketball abilities while the highlights played in the background. Adams pushed for a date to get the game on the calendar. Nothing is set as of now, but the former promised the later that they will “get to that.”
Caitlin Clark and Cooper DeJean are about to get their respective rookie seasons underway, so there are bigger priorities at the moment. However, to play the matchup for charity would draw a lot of eyeballs!