Inside Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese's impact on men's basketball

ESPN college basketball broadcaster Holly Rowe talks to Fox News Digital about women's hoops maintaining its popularity.

College basketball is coming off of a brief era of matriarchy. But is it even over? 

The 2024 college basketball recruiting class is coming into the sport in the aftermath of a historic popularity shift. This year, for the first time in March Madness history, more people tuned in to watch the women's championship game than the men's. 

The NCAA Women's final had 18.9 million viewers, while the men had just 14.8 million. 

There is no denying it, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese were the reasons for this. A combination of star power and controversy fueled a surge in demand for women’s basketball. Online conversations ran rampant over the two players, hitting sensitive pressure points in social and political conversation, for not one, but two Final Four runs in a row.

Now, if there is a popularity contest between the two sports, the next generation of men's basketball stars are paying close attention to the other side as they begin their college careers. 

For some of the top men’s recruits, the lines between the sports are blurring. 

"I just think we’re all the same, and to categorize us as different, because we’re all the same people at the end of the day," said Dylan Harper, the No. 2 nationally-ranked recruit in the class of 2024, who committed to Rutgers, declining offers from powerhouse programs Duke, Indiana and Kansas. 

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Dylan Harper of Team USA drives to the basket during the game against Team World during the 2024 Nike Hoop Summit on April 13, 2024 at the Moda Center Arena in Portland, Oregon. (Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images)

Harper told Fox