Golden: Even the men can trash talk, why not the women?

Let the boys be boys.

That’s been the familiar refrain for more than 200 years whenever our male sports stars have engaged in heated trash talk during games.

How about letting the girls be girls?

LSU coach Kim Mulkey won a fourth national title and moved into third place in all-time NCAA championships behind fellow legends Geno Auriemma (11) and the late Pat Summitt (8) after Sunday’s 102-85 title win over Iowa, but much of the talk after the game surrounded the two best players on the court — and not for anything that involved a basket.

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In case you haven’t noticed, women’s basketball took a humongous step on the national stage over these last three weeks with young stars like LSU's Angel Reese and Iowa's Caitlin Clark leading the way. They're not only arguably the two best players in college basketball, but they are on the short list of greatest trash talkers in the game, too.

It’s OK to celebrate their wonderful skill sets while also understanding there may be some competitive banter back and forth in between their basketball artistry.

Reese, one of the best posts in the country, became the center of a media firestorm after she approached and taunted Clark, the best shooting guard the game has seen since UConn's Diana Taurasi, in the final seconds of the title game. Reese flashed wrestling legend John Cena’s signature "You can’t see me" hand wave and pointed to her soon-to-be title-adorned ring finger, drawing criticism from all over.

She and Tigers teammate Alexis Morris then chanted “loser” to start the postgame interview at midcourt.

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I didn’t agree with Reese making it a point to get in Clark's face well after the final buzzer, but this kind of thing happens in men’s sports all the time. When NBA player Patrick Beverley pointed to an imaginary wrist watch and mocked Portland’s Damian “Dame Time” Lillard for a late miss with the game on the line, no eyebrows were raised, but when it happens between women's players, people get all indignant.

But Clark had directed that same Cena gesture at Louisville guard Hailey Van Lith — another great trash talker — after an Elite Eight win last week. Clark also waved off a couple of South Carolina players on defense because she didn't respect their outside shooting ability.

“People are starting to understand that women can play with excitement and passion and a fire about themselves,” Clark said before the title game. “That’s what’s fun. That’s what people want to see.”

The double standards of college basketball

Clark — a young white woman from the Midwest who has been embraced as down-to-earth and a gym rat — has been a media darling despite her history of talking junk. But Reese, a young Black woman from Baltimore, has endured her share of criticism from her freshman year at Maryland to her first year in Baton Rouge over her emotional style of play that’s a mirror image of Clark’s.

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She’s also the owner of model looks with her signature long, painted nails, flowing curly locks and long eyelash extensions, which led to her nickname, "Bayou Barbie.”

They’re exciting players who are making good money — on3.com lists Reese’s NIL valuation at $392,000 while Clark comes in at $192,000 — and are cut from the same competitive cloth. Still, Reese bore the brunt of most of the criticism.

And she’s not having it with what reeks of a double standard.

"All year, I was critiqued for who I was. I don't fit the narrative," Reese said to reporters. "I don't fit the box that y'all want me to be in. I'm too hood. I'm too ghetto. Y'all told me that all year. But when other people do it, and y'all don't say nothing.”

She was presumably referring to Clark as one of the others. Now, Reese should do herself a favor and separate most traditional media professionals from those who are tweeting from mom’s basement like Will Ferrell's Chad from "Old School." It isn’t the same.

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This debate will only help, not hurt, women's college basketball

With that said, I would have rather heard more about a great team win postgame rather than have LSU players spend so much time focusing on someone they had just beaten.

And to see the Twitterverse predictably split along racial lines once again … so tired.

I say allow the women to trash talk just like the men, but once the game is over, let’s shake hands and move on. The extra stuff? No need for that. The fact that so much is being discussed about the women’s Final Four and a tournament that was historic in terms of viewership, revenue and all-out interest, that’s called growing the game.

Rivalries are what make sports so fun to watch and these two will propel the game to loftier heights.

Women’s hoops has been elevated and a little trash talk didn’t hurt.

The good news is Clark and Reese could be right back in the championship game next season and the ratings will be even higher because the product is great and the excitement is wonderful. If that happens, then sign me up for a front row seat. Both are tremendous players with that star element we all love.

We can see that. Right, Cena?

Texas was not built on Beard alone

Terry answers critics: Texas basketball coach Rodney Terry has a message for those who openly doubted his ability to build a successful roster through recruiting and the transfer portal.

Terry wants people to know he wasn’t in the air stream enjoying the air-conditioning while Chris Beard was outside beating the pavement to construct the team that came within a hair of advancing to the Final Four.

One week after having the interim tag removed along with signing a five-year deal for more than $15 million, Terry wanted to make that point clear in an interview with the Field of 68 podcast in Houston over the weekend.

“Chris (Beard) was a great coach,” Terry said. “But he didn’t put this roster together himself. We did. I’m not one to pat myself on the back, but I recruited three starters on this roster. Don’t get it twisted.”

If you didn’t know before, now you know. RT isn’t here for any silly stuff.

And yes, he will have ample time to prove himself between now and the season opener this fall.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Young stars Clark and Reese at center of NCAA trash-talk drama