When Caitlin Clark committed to Iowa in November 2019 over offers from Iowa State and Notre Dame, it was apparent she was a talented basketball player. But the Iowa native was only ranked No. 4 in the country at the time.
No. 1 was Paige Bueckers, the UConn star whose journey has been plagued by injuries. Angel Reese was No. 2 (she went to Maryland, before she transferred to LSU in 2022) and Cameron Brink (Stanford) was No. 3, both now national champions at their current schools.
But Clark has never been one to seek the spotlight, or need the affirmation or recognition that she is one of the best at her craft. She’s always let her work do the talking – and her numbers jump off the page.
As Clark approached the NCAA all-time women’s scoring record, Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder noted that if the star player had her way, she would make history in front of thousands of Iowa fans against Michigan on Thursday. Turns out Clark did just that.
Clark passed the University of Washington’s Kelsey Plum in the first quarter by scoring the first eight points of the game. She did it in style, too, nailing a three-pointer from 35 feet for the record.
Clark finished with an Iowa-record 49 points in a 106-89 win.
Plum, a two-time WNBA champion with the Las Vegas Aces, racked up 3,527 career points over four seasons.
While many thought she would do it on Super Bowl Sunday, her performance on the road against Nebraska fell just short. Clark scored 31 points, but some late shot selection questions and a Nebraska defensive masterclass saw the Huskers take down Iowa 82-79.
But Clark still made history, as she notched five assists against Nebraska, marking 1,000 for her career. She’s one of just five players to reach the milestone, and it made Clark the only player in Division I history to record 3,000 points and 1,000 assists.
Against Penn State earlier in February when Clark would have had to have put up one of the best performances of her career to break the record, she seemed just as happy to celebrate with teammate Hannah Stuelke, who had a career-high 47 points in an 18-point win.
Clark is selfless, always there to uplift her teammates and celebrate those around her.
Even when Iowa lost in the national championship to LSU, amid some apparent tension between Clark and Reese, Clark simply gave flowers to Reese, stating “Angel is a tremendous, tremendous player. I have nothing but respect for her. I love her game – the way she rebounds the ball, scores the ball, is absolutely incredible. I’m a big fan of her and even the entire LSU team.”
In January 2022, Clark became the first player in DI basketball history to achieve 30-point triple-doubles in conference wins in back-to-back games (31-10-10 and 35-13-11). Just over two weeks later, Clark racked up 46 points, her current career high, in a loss against Michigan.
She came just shy of that mark again this year, when on Jan. 21, she scored 45 points against Ohio State, shooting 12-for-25, including 7-for-18 from three-point range.
While she has a few Big Ten tournament trophies under her belt, Clark has not won a national title. However, she has won AP Player of the Year, the John R. Wooden Award and Naismith College Player of the Year, just to name a few. She’s the favourite to go first overall in this year’s WNBA Draft.
But what may be even more impressive to some is what Clark has achieved beyond the court, impacting the attendance and viewership of women’s basketball across North America and the world.
The Caitlin Clark Effect saw 1.6 million viewers tune into Fox earlier this month to see Iowa’s 93-85 win over Maryland, making it the most-watched women’s basketball game in the network’s history. That record was quickly broken as Iowa-Nebraska drew 1.77 million viewers before the Super Bowl.
With a broken record on the line, tickets for Iowa’s game against Nebraska were being sold for as high as $2,215 – in comparison, Nebraska’s next home game after Iowa is selling for $10-$15.
With the record watch then moving in front of the home crowd at Carver–Hawkeye Arena, some tickets neared $10,000 as Iowa fans wanted a front-row seat to see Clark make history.
Ohio State’s win over Clark and Iowa last month drew 1.93 million viewers on NBC, the most-watched regular season women’s college basketball game on any network since 2010. Viewership peaked at 3.9 million viewers as Ohio State took a 100-92 victory in overtime.
Last March’s championship game between Iowa and LSU drew an average of 9.9 million viewers, with the game airing on ABC for the first time.
Clark is forever in the history books for being one of the best college basketball players the game has seen. But just as important as her on-court performance is how she is leaving the college game better than she found it for the next generation, getting more respect and eyes for women in the sport, and proving the world wants to see it.