Caitlin Clark Becomes NCAA’s Undisputed Queen

It’s NCAA’s Wall Street moment. And a certain shored-up stock is making a fortune. Not only it’s crowding stands, but also making arenas the sold-out houses for women’s games. The resurgence of Caitlin Clark as the prized stock of college basketball is simply devouring records. It was only a matter of time before she would emerge first among the equals after dusting Kelsey Plum’s staggering record. And now, in her last season before big league move, she’s decimated a certain cult’s super stat and emerged as the biggest iconoclast of college circuit.

In Caitlin Clark, the WNBA is already laying a red carpet for the generational talent this year. Her rise is resilient given how she faced a “you can’t see me” defeat last season. While her archrival is shuttling between glory and gloom, the Naismith Player of the Year is leaving the college as a showstopper. Fans now have the habit of facing adrenaline rushes considering how Clark is always up to some or the other record. And the best part about her is that she doesn’t keep her followers waiting for long. As soon she is done with one record, she starts eyeing another one, instilling faith in her fans. The whole college basketball world was waiting for the moment when Clark etched her name in golden words for years to come.

And then it Happened

Clark when last played had 3,650 career points after thrashing an exceptional 33 against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. She only needed 15 points to surpass the former Detroit Mercy guard Antoine Davis and 18 to become the all time leading scorer in men’s and women’s basketball college circuit combined. She cemented her name in the college basketball circuit edging past Pete Maravich’s 54-year-old record. It looked like it was written in destiny for Clark to break it. 

Clark was overwhelmed to meet the WNBA legend Maya Moore on the special day. The Carver Hawkeye arena too echoed a sentiment of support for their star to break the record and sit atop the humongous mountain of points. Clark also had her friend Jake from Statefarm present in the gymnasium wearing a custom Caitlin Clark jacket.

Clark only had 3 points in the beginning till the time Hawkeyes had scored 15 points. She was finding it difficult to create space for herself and was mostly screened by the opponents. Clark started the second quarter with a her signature three pointer. She scored another three pointer and inched closer to history. She then decimated a two pointer to be only 4 points away from the record. It looked as if the universe was building anticipation for Clark’s record. And then it happened. She again potted a two pointer. All the fans stood for her achievement. And then her record point came with a free throw.

The Court Storm That Swept Records

Clark is known to sweep records. This is not the first time that she has eclipsed another athlete to get to the coveted milestone. She is naturally Iowa’s leading scorer. In order to register her name in the record books, Clark went on a rampage. She has the most 30-point games by a man or a woman athlete in the college basketball circuit in the past 25 seasons. She has been as selfless as she has smashed points.

The 22-year-old is Iowa’s and Big Ten’s leader in assists. With 49 points that she scored against Michigan Wolverines, she became Iowa’s highest scorer in a game. She went ahead of the former Idaho athlete Taylor Pierce in having the most three-pointers in a singular season. 

During her junior year, Clark added her name to the list with Elena Delle Donne as the fastest player to hold 2000 career points. She also became the first player in both men’s and women’s basketball combined to have a 30 or 40-pointer triple-double. Clark’s exceptional gameplay was visible when she became the first player to have back-to-back 40-pointer games.

Her sophomore year was no different as Clark became the fastest player in the Big Ten to reach 1000 career points. Other than that, Clark recorded 18 assists in a singular game, becoming the highest assist maker in the Iowa history while tying the spot for most assists in the conference game.

Read More: How Far Is Caitlin Clark From Becoming NCAA’s Queen?

Clark along with these exemplary records to her name won the ‘Dawn Staley’ award both in her freshmen and sophomore year, making her the first player to have back-to-back ‘Dawn Staley’ awards. Clark therefore has been an absolute stunner to watch and hopefully, she will carry forward her on-song performances in the next phase of her career.

WNBA Countdown

Basking in the glory, Clark lately announced her decision to be drafted in the WNBA 2024. This is her final year at Iowa Hawkeyes and she has been a sensation all throughout. Clark will mostly probably be No. 1 pick as projected in the mock drafts and will be drafted by Indiana Fever.

This will give her a chance to play alongside the Fever forward Aliyah Boston. And this will not be the first time that she gets a chance to play with Boston. They were together in the U19 FIBA World Cup in Thailand where Team USA had bagged a gold medal in 2019. While Boston did not represent the U19 team again, Clark got a chance to participate in the 2021 FIBA World Cup in Hungary where she again clinched a gold medal. 

Therefore, Clark’s Indiana Fever journey will be watched by many, and fans would be excited to see two powerhouses pair with each other. It will also be interesting to see if Clark raises the bar in the WNBA. Currently, she averages a whopping over 30 points per game and the highest average in a single season in the women’s league is that by Diana Taurasi, 25.29 points per contest. Hopefully, Clark will create a legacy of her own.

Read More: 2024 All-Star Game: Caitlin Clark Set to Embark on NCAA’s Last Dance Alongside Angel Reese