Newlyweds with a modest social media following have gone viral thanks to the wife’s striking resemblance to a basketball superstar.
With the help of husband Jeremy Schecter, a young brunette named Orly Mintz caused quite a stir at the Elite Eight of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament on Monday night in Albany, New York, where superstar guard Caitlin Clark and the top-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes defeated forward Angel Reese and the defending NCAA champion LSU Tigers, 94-87.
Mintz donned a Clark jersey, put her hair in a matching ponytail, and interacted with fellow fans, including one woman who sincerely wondered if Mintz and Clark were siblings.
“Are you her sister?” the woman asked in a clip that Yahoo Sports posted to the social media platform X.
“No,” Mintz replied while smiling, shaking her head and shrugging her shoulders.
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“Oh sh**,” the woman said. “Does she even know you exist?”
“No,” Mintz again replied, at which point the woman asked for a picture with the Clark look-alike.
Other fans also got photos or appeared on camera with Mintz, including Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports.
As Mintz walked around the arena concourse, some fans expressed confusion and astonishment.
Do you like Caitlin Clark?
“I was like, ‘What is she doing out here?’” one woman said after realizing that Mintz, in fact, was not Clark.
Readers may view the 31-second clip below.
WARNING: the following video contains language that some viewers might find offensive
The resemblance between this Iowa fan and Caitlin Clark is UNREAL 🫨
(via orlyandjeremy / TT) pic.twitter.com/XrMtkfR6dL
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) April 3, 2024
As of Thursday morning, the Yahoo Sports post featuring the Mintz clip had more than 552K views on X.
The original video, however, came from the orlyandjeremy account on the social media platform TikTok. That account does not give the couple quite the exposure that Yahoo Sports did. As of Thursday morning, they had only 993 TikTok followers.
According to their wedding registry on Zola, Mintz and Schecter married in March 2023 in New Rochelle, New York.
Since then, they have posted newlywed-type videos of each other peeling oranges, folding laundry and taking passport pictures, for instance.
Before Monday’s game, however, they recorded an eight-second video of Mintz putting her hair in a ponytail, showing off her Clark jersey and the couple then driving to Albany — all set to the theme from “Rocky.”
@orlyandjeremy Headed to the elite 8 to see my twin Caitlin Clark! #marchmadness #caitlinclark #fyp #iowahawkeyes #viral ♬ Rocky (Main Theme) – The Intermezzo Orchestra
Another short video from inside the arena showed Mintz mimicking Clark’s pregame warm-up squats. Incidentally, the young couple appeared to have great seats.
@orlyandjeremy Caitlins warm up is no joke #caitlinclark #marchmadness #fyp #viral ♬ original sound – Orly and Jeremy
In other words, Mintz looks to be having fun as a celebrity doppelganger. And why not?
After all, Clark has taken the sports world by storm, shattering records and leading her team to a second consecutive Final Four appearance. At the moment, she might rank as one of the most recognizable basketball players in America.
On Friday, Clark’s Hawkeyes will face the Connecticut Huskies and legendary coach Geno Auriemma. As a high-schooler, Clark wanted to play for Connecticut, but Auriemma did not recruit her.
No word on whether Mintz will take her act to Cleveland, Ohio, site of the Women’s Final Four. If so, perhaps she could get a scholarship from Auriemma. Here’s hoping she at least tries.
