The all-time player for the LOWA has consistently recommended to the head coach that the team should add a key player to help them accomplish their goals.
It would be best if we just said outright that Caitlin Clark is a problem. That’s 21st-century minimalist sports lingo for someone who is so incredibly skilled at sports that the opposition takes an excessively long time to consider how to respond to the challenge (even though they are well aware that their chosen strategies might not work).
Because when The Sporting News honored Clark and Angel Reese of LSU with our Athletes of the Year award in December—an honor that had previously gone to legends like Lionel Messi, Tom Brady, and Jackie Joyner-Kersee—we determined that at that time, her scoring average meant she was expected to pass Kelsey Plum of Washington at some point in late February. That gave us plenty of time to arrange appropriate press coverage for the event.
We overlooked one important detail: Caitlin Clark is someone for whom averages are not just meant to be broken, but records themselves.
She is determined to finish this task, even though it is only the tenth day of the month. As soon as possible. She has accelerated the time it will take to break the record by weeks with her average of 32.6 points over the previous five games. Her current season scoring average of 32.2 points per game would be the highest for any player in over 30 years if she were to finish the season at that level. She has the potential to surpass Patricia Hoskins’ record for the greatest season in NCAA women’s basketball history.
At the end of the 2017 season, Plum set a career high with 3,527 points. Clark will take the lead on Sunday at Nebraska with 39 more points. That would entail making the crucial basket while traveling. Additionally, doing it on Super Bowl Sunday could cause it to be slightly lost in the commotion surrounding the biggest sporting event in America.
However, breaking that record is so significant that even the most well-known player in the Big Game, Clark’s Chiefs fan, is aware of the milestone Clark is getting close to.
Because of the timing, Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes said to Riley Trujillo of The Sporting News, “I don’t know if I’ll get to see it.” However, she’s just an amazing person and player. I spoke with her when we met. She obviously adores the game. She enjoys playing at Iowa a lot. She is among the greatest college basketball players in history and a women’s basketball player to boot. She will undoubtedly get tons on me, so I really hope I never have to play her one-on-one.
She is among the greatest college basketball players in history. She’ll go play in the WNBA and be a dominant force there too. She’ll undoubtedly get tons on me, so hopefully I never have to play her one-on-one.”
@sportingnews, The Sporting News February 6, 2024
Clark was regarded as one of the top five players in the 2020 recruiting class and was an outstanding prospect at Dowling Catholic in Des Moines. Her potential to become a standout college player eventually gave way to her status as an all-time great and a generational talent, one whose accomplishments and abilities will be discussed alongside luminaries like Nancy Lieberman, Cheryl Miller, Chamique Holdsclaw, and Maya Moore.
For people with different viewpoints, the inevitable nature of greatness is revealed at different times. After mentoring Michael Jordan during the 1984 Olympic Trials, Bob Knight declared Jordan to be the best. Knight famously said to general manager Stu Inman, “So play him at center!” after the Trail Blazers made it clear they were thinking about choosing Kentucky big man Sam Bowie over Jordan in that year’s NBA Draft because they needed a center. After starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe suffered an injury in 2001, the Patriots realized they had something special in Tom Brady, a sixth-round selection in 2000. With Brady at quarterback that season, New England won five Super Bowls in a row.
When some of the people who have watched, followed, covered, and mentored Caitlin Clark realized she was more than just the next great player, that’s when we wanted to know. We thus inquired.
