Full Court Press and the Rise of Women’s Basketball
ESPN’s new documentary, Full Court Press, follows the journey of three college basketball standout stars: Caitlin Clark, Kamilla Cardoso, and Kiki Rice.
“What’s unique about this moment in women’s basketball? They can no longer hold us back,” Dawn Staley, head coach for the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks shares in the trailer for the new documentary, Full Court Press. This docu-series highlights three college basketball stars: Caitlin Clark, Kamilla Cardoso, and Kiki Rice, streaming on May 11 and 12 on ESPN+.
The recent and unprecedented rise in women’s basketball has been something nobody could have expected. Still, Clark, Cardoso, and Rice are three young women proving that basketball is not just a man’s sport.
In the four-part ESPN+ docuseries, audiences get an inside look at these student-athletes lives, both on and off the court. Specifically, in the past few months, Clark, former Guard for the Iowa Hawkeyes and current Guard for the Indiana Fever, has become a household name for her efforts in uplifting women’s basketball this past year.
The head of production of the series, Therese Andrews, shares that Clark’s fans will be able to understand her “on a deeper level,” after watching this docuseries, following the immense pressure she has been under in the final season of her collegiate career. The series aims to show another side of Clark, the side that not many can see.
Cardoso, another featured athlete in the series, is also allowed to show a very different side of herself: the determination and sacrifices she made to play the game she loves. Cardoso moved to America when she was only 15 from Brazil, and due to this sacrifice, her family has never been allowed to see her play in America. That is, until her senior night when her coach, Dawn Staley surprised her and flew her mother and sister to America from Brazil to watch her play for the first time in the U.S.
Kamilla Cardoso's family surprised her from Brazil for senior night
— ESPN (@espn) May 12, 2024
Stream Full Court Press on @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/xqY4Pw8rtp
Rice, the current guard for the UCLA Bruins, shares in her segment that not only does she see trainers and take care of her body, but she began seeing a sports psychologist to help her with “the mental side of the game.” This holistic approach to her craft is very inspiring and she believes it will help elevate her game to the next level as her main goal is to “play freely,” and with “more confidence.”
Ultimately, Full Court Press provides exposure for women’s basketball and women’s sports in general, as audiences have never seen major media coverage like this for women’s athletics. The four-part docuseries, streaming now on ESPN+ gives a more humanistic perspective on these collegiate athletes who are grappling with the pressures of the spotlight and hope to bring more attention to women’s basketball.
You can watch the full trailer for the docuseries below.
