"Screenager city" - WNBA fans react as Caitlin Clark & bf Connor McCaffery stay glued to phones while attending Illinois vs Maryland game

Caitlin Clark and Connor McCaffery were in attendance for the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal showdown between the Illinois Fighting Illini and Maryland Terrapins at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Fever, on Friday night.

Before the game — which Maryland won 88-65 — the couple was shown on camera, but rather than engaging with the moment, they remained glued to their phones for over 20 seconds.

Their lack of reaction sparked immediate speculation and reactions from fans.

“Screenager city. Jeez,” one said.

“Ah... the younger generation,” another commented.

“The generation glued to phones. It's stupid,” another added.

However, some fans speculated that their distracted behavior was linked to the news that broke earlier today that Fran McCaffery, Connor’s father and longtime Iowa Hawkeyes coach, had been dismissed after 15 seasons.

“You realize his dad was let go from Iowa after 15 years as head coach. You think maybe their phones were blowing up from people concerning that??,” one commented.

“Strange amount of comments about them being on their phones… that were typed out on phones,” another said.

“Connor seeing the news his dad got booted. They knew this was coming,” another commented.

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Fran McCaffery saw Caitlin Clark as a generational talent from the start

When Caitlin Clark arrived at Iowa in 2020, she was already turning heads, including that of Fran McCaffery, her now-boyfriend’s father and then-head coach of the Hawkeyes men’s team.

Five years later, as Caitlin Clark’s jersey was set to be immortalized in the rafters, Fran said it was no surprise.

“You could kind of see it coming when she was a freshman. … I said ‘This is a generational talent’ after 10-15 games. You could see that. … I’m happy for her, her family and the program,” Fran said (per Eliot Clough).

"What she did, not only for our program but for women's basketball, has been nothing that we've ever seen before, nothing we could have envisioned.”

Despite being Iowa’s all-time wins leader (297 victories), Fran McCaffery was let go on Friday, as the school announced.

His tenure ended following Iowa’s 106-94 loss to Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament’s second round on Thursday, a game where he was ejected in the second half after receiving two technical fouls for arguing with the officials.