Seriously, block my shot: March Madness, gender inequity and playing pickup in Wilson

“That’s what I always talk about ... women’s basketball isn’t just suddenly good. It’s been good.” - Caitlin Clark

At a school like Duke, March can only be associated with one thing: the iconic sixty-four team tournament, full of Cinderella stories, crazy upsets and unprecedented matchups, aptly dubbed March Madness. Its campus acclaim is well founded, as the Duke men’s basketball team has made 46 appearances in the tournament since 1955, which includes 17 Final Four appearances, 11 National Championship appearances and 5 National Championship wins. This season, the men’s team has attracted a lot of attention in particular, with freshman standout Cooper Flagg leading the team to a No. 1 spot in a recent AP Poll. 

While the men’s team, and men’s college basketball in general, has always garnered national attention, women’s basketball has recently reached a new stage, thanks to players like Candace Parker, Paige Bueckers and, of course, Caitlin Clark. A noticeable culture shift has occurred in recent years, boosted by structural changes like the NCAA allowing the women’s tournament to also use the branding “March Madness” in 2022, after approximately 40 years of the name being exclusively used for the men — a clear symbol of gender inequity within the sport. Certain benchmarks too, like the 2024 women’s championship (South Carolina vs. Iowa) receiving over 18.7 million viewers — 4 million more viewers than the men's championship — seem to indicate a new wave of women’s sports. 

Although we finally seem to be getting over the hump of thinking that watching a women’s basketball game or being able to name more than one WNBA team buys you feminist brownie points — we seem to be moving towards a culture that normalizes women’s sports as just sports, plain and simple — there is still work to be done. The issue of unequal pay in sports is not a new one, but it remains relevant as ever. While the WNBA is a younger, smaller league and generates a lower revenue than the NBA,  inequitable revenue-sharing agreements remain an issue. The NBA paying its players an average of 49-51% of the league’s revenue, while WNBA players take home a maximum of 22.8%. 

Even on our own campus, the gender divide between the sports is palpable. Just this year, 2,652 students, approximately 41% of the undergraduate population, took the tenting test, fighting for the opportunity to camp for weeks to see Duke take on UNC. This game filled Cameron Indoor to its capacity of 9,314 occupants, packing in more than 1,600 undergraduates into the student section. Comparatively, the women’s rivalry game versus UNC, both AP top 20 teams at the time, attracted only 7,010 attendees and boasted a fairly disappointing showing from the Cameron Crazies in the student section. 

But what does this have to do with Wilson gym? For me, this is where these issues where it all begins: on the pickup court. At a humble 5’5”, coupled with a fairly quiet, unassuming demeanor, I may not strike you as a person familiar with draining threes and wiping shoes at the free throw line. But I’ve spent my fair share of time hooping and have grown all too familiar with the feeling of stepping into a gym as the only girl. There’s nothing quite like standing on the line — knowing you’ve played varsity for four years in high school, knowing you’ve got a mean stepback, knowing you know the rules — as people pick teams and inevitably leave you for last, until one of the guys sighs and goes, “I’ll take the girl.” 

My experiences playing pickup in Wilson haven’t been overtly negative, but if we believe in encouraging women’s participation in basketball, we need to address these small, sometimes even silent, barriers within our own community here on campus. In the often male-dominated games, I often have to overperform — scoring more points and making fewer mistakes — in order to receive the same recognition as my male counterparts. If I miss a shot, it’s often the last time I’ll touch the ball for the rest of the game, while the guys can typically brick a few layups or airball threes and still be passed the ball over me.

There are overcorrections, too, where girls are treated overly gently or even slightly patronized. I’ve been passed the ball out of pity, as an almost last resort, only to surprise my team of guys when I make the basket. I’ve had guys not play real defense while guarding me out of fear of offending me with a bump or push. I’ve had people complain about girls wanting to play on the claim that it compromises the competitiveness of the game.