Caitlin Clark Reveals the Biggest Thing from Her NCAA Career: “Everybody Fell in Love with My Shooting But….”

The world knows her as the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer, the queen of college basketball, and the female Stephen Curry. While scoring was a major part of these accolades, it is not something Caitlin Clark prioritizes on the floor. In fact, one of the best shooters in college basketball history loves to control the game. Hence, improving her numbers in assists was always her goal.

Sitting with ESPN’s Holly Rowe, the 22-year-old indulged in a discussion about her college and professional basketball career. Instead of setting a negative tone to the interview, Rowe asked the National Player of the Year what she could do as a part of the WNBA. Clark seemed to have an answer ready for the inquiry.

She said, “Everybody fell in love with my shooting or like my scoring but I’ve always been somebody that has loved to pass the ball.” Talking about her interest in being a playmaker on the floor, Clark gave us some more insights.

“I think that’s something I developed at a young age. Being able to get my teammates open, being able to hit my teammates in transition. I love to play uptempo, I love to play fast. Obviously going to the WNBA, the talent level around me is going to be really good. So it should only make my job easier feeding them the ball,” Clark revealed. And her assist numbers prove her point.

During her 4-year stay in Iowa, Clark increased her assists average each season. In her freshman year, she averaged 7.1 assists per game along with 26.6 points. 4 years later, Clark averaged 8.9 assists with 31.6 points per game in the 2023-24 season. So not only did she improve her scoring numbers but she also became the orchestrator of the Hawkeyes’ offense. With 1,114 assists in total, she finished her college career at the 3rd spot on the All-Time assists leaderboard in DI women’s college basketball history.

While her popularity and praises definitely took the steering wheel, Clark has also witnessed criticism lurking in the back seat.

Caitlin Clark has one easy solution to chase away all the hate

The No. 22 of the Hawkeyes was no stranger to criticism and hate, especially the one that came from other women at the same stage. However, seems like she is unbothered by it all, and here’s how. In the same interview, Clark showed how she tackles the dislike, saying, “No matter what stage you’re on, if you’re at the highest stage there’s always going to be people that are critiquing you. There’s always going to be people that are complimenting you. I think that just speaks to how I was raised.”

Clark also shared how she is not the kind of person who weighs her shoulders on the opinions of others. She has learned that the level at which she feels the praise is also the level where she will feel all the hate. Hence, all she needs to do is stay in the middle. Although the phenomenal hooper believes that everyone is entitled to their opinions, her confidence in herself as a person and as a basketball player takes leverage over the hate.