Who is Caitlin Clark?

Caitlin Clark is a women’s basketball player for the University of Iowa. She is currently a Senior at the University and has become a Basketball all-star in the past couple of seasons. Especially in this season, Clark has broken record after record and has quickly become a household name. 

What’s her story?

Caitlin Clark grew up in Iowa. All throughout her younger years, she would play all kinds of sports with her older brothers. She even played on an all boys basketball team throughout elementary school. 

Though Clark loved many sports, she committed to basketball by the start of middle school. By eighth grade, Clark was winning games against high school Seniors. By her Sophomore year of high school, she was one of the top high school basketball players in the country. She won many awards throughout her high school career and was rated Number 4 in the class of 2020 by ESPN. 

Clark had a long list of recruiters for college, but ultimately decided on the University of Iowa because of their openness and overall energy. 

What are some of her achievements?

Caitlin Clark has many achievements and accomplishments. Notably, she is the record holder for most points scored in a single game (for women’s college D1 basketball). With a record 49 points, Clark is a powerhouse. 

Furthermore, Clark also currently holds the record for the most career points in women’s NCAA history. Her total of career points is 3,685 points (March 3, 2024), and the season is far from over. Additionally, she holds the record for most 30+ point and 10+ assist games in the past 25 seasons. While nobody in women’s basketball has had more than two such games, she has done it 19 times. She even holds the record for most 30+ point games in the past 25 seasons – in both men’s and women’s basketball, at 54 games. 

Clark has also been named Big Ten Player of the Week ten times and MBCA National Player of the Week eight times. 

Her latest achievement is becoming the all-time NCAA Division I lead scorer (both men’s and women’s basketball). On Sunday, March 3, Clark scored 35 points in a game, which set her at 3,685 total career points – eight points above the previous record held by Pete Maravich. While Caitlin Clark’s point total isn’t entirely comparable to that of Pete Maravich due to how the rules have changed since his time, this is still a phenomenal accomplishment for anyone to hold – especially a female in a very male-dominated sport. 

What makes her so special?

While interest in women’s basketball has experienced an overall spike in recent years, the person who can really be attributed to a lot of that is Caitlin Clark. The excitement of such a powerful performer has brought many eyeballs to screens and attention to games. As she was set to beat the former women’s scoring record at the start of the season, everyone wanted to experience something so extraordinary. Especially after she beat the former women’s record, everyone was waiting for her to beat Pete Maravich’s all-time scoring record of 3,667 career points. Now that she has done both, people are anxiously waiting to see what she will do next. 

Cailtin Clark has sparked a new era for women’s basketball. Before the 2023-2024 season even began, Iowa broke the record for most people who came to watch a single women’s basketball game with an insane 55,646 in attendance to watch the exhibition game. Following this, game after game after game has been sold out. Schools that have hosted Iowa’s team in games have seen an average of a 150% increase in attendance compared to their usual home games. This season’s five most in-demand NCAA women’s basketball games have all featured Iowa. 

Even for those not attending games in person, digital viewership has also increased. The 2023 national championship game (which included Iowa) drew in about 10 million viewers on average. This was an increase of over 100% since the previous year. In Iowa’s game against Ohio State, NBC averaged 1.94 million views across the network and Peacock. The number peaked to 3.9 million at overtime. This made it the most watched regular-season game on any network since 2010, at least when it comes to women’s basketball. The upward trend of viewership and interest for women’s basketball has been exponentially increased by Clark. 

Furthermore, Clark is also sparking interest for women’s basketball in the next, younger generation. After games, you will often find her signing autographs for young girls who travel long distances to see her play. Her extreme kindness to all of these young fans has brought her even more admiration and attention. 

Since joining Iowa in 2020, Clark has beat record after record and has increased overall interest in women’s basketball. It is undeniable that she has had a worldwide impact – and some could even say that she has become the very face and representation of college basketball – both men’s and women’s. 

Cites

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-basketball/news/caitlin-clark-iowa-class-year-wnba-draft-eligibility-2024/1804b71d65dfb987723808de#:~:text=Clark%20is%20a%20senior%20at,the%20Iowa%20athletic%20department%20website. 

https://hawkeyesports.com/roster/caitlin-clark/#:~:text=She%20is%20first%20on%20the,850%2B%20rebounds%20in%20a%20career. 

https://www.espn.com/high-school/girls-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/225153 

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/page/WCBBScoringTracker*/caitlin-clark-iowa-ncaa-career-scoring-record-stats-all 

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/basketball/iowa-caitlin-clark-declares-wnba-draft-1.7130225#:~:text=She%20has%203%2C650%20career%20points,scoring%20record%20(3%2C527%20points). 

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/recap/_/gameId/401601613 

https://www.ncaa.org/news/2024/2/15/media-center-the-caitlin-clark-effect.aspx#:~:text=She%20has%2059%20career%20games,an%20AP%20Top%2025%20opponent.&text=Since%20Caitlin%20Clark%20entered%20college,point%2C%2010%2Dassist%20game. 

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/a46492597/caitlin-clark-what-to-know/ 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/03/sport/caitlin-clark-record-ncaa-basketball-scorer-spt/index.html 

https://theathletic.com/5313104/2024/03/03/caitlin-clark-pete-maravich-scoring-record/