Caitlin Clark is the best offensive player we’ve seen in women’s college basketball in at least three decades. Her point totals, while huge and currently unprecedented, only tell part of the story. While we’ve seen incredible scorers—Lynette Woodard, Kelsey Plum, Maya Moore, Jackie Stiles, Brittney Griner—we’ve NEVER seen a woman play like this.
The Iowa senior’s consistent range and her willingness to regularly come up from deep set her apart. This season, she’s made 88 shots from 25 feet or farther. Over the past five years, the next-highest single-season total by a non-Clark is 51 (Indiana guard Sara Scalia in 2021-22), according to CBB Analytics. Defenders have to pick her up as soon as she crosses half court, or she’ll be in acceptable range.
Steph Curry and Damian Lillard are the only threats left in the half that I can think of. Clark’s mere presence on the court will dictate individual and team defenses, while also creating better spacing for each of her teammates.
But it’s her presence that elevates her above the other great scorers in the women’s game. Her passing ability makes her not only the best scorer, but also the best all-around player.
Clark is the best “go-ahead” passer since Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi.
Clark sees teammates running down the floor and often makes a go-ahead pass before they even turn around to see it coming. She is elite in the two-man game and elite in the defensive read and knows how to pass through the smallest of windows.
While we celebrate Clark as the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball after she surpassed Pete Maravich’s mark on Sunday, we can’t ignore that she is also sixth all-time in assists in the women’s game. No other player is in the top 28 of either. (Oddly, the career assists data only includes the top 28 players. It’s possible that no one else is in the top 65, where Sabrina Ionescu scored while ranking fourth in assists.)
Clark is also the only player in a major conference to lead in both scoring and assists in four consecutive seasons.
Finally, she is a great teammate. While she attempted the second-most field goals in the country—her 22.6 attempts per game trailed only USC freshman JuJu Watkins’ 22.8—she rarely forced shots. I never saw her launch a deep 3 when a teammate was open for a better look. I never saw a teammate slump because Clark didn’t pass her the ball when she was open. Does Clark sometimes seem frustrated when a pass is mishandled? True, but you always get the sense she’s frustrated with the play, not the player. And it’s obvious that her teammates love playing alongside her.
One of my favorite Clark moments of the season came in Iowa’s game against Michigan. It wasn’t Clark’s eight points in the first two minutes that gave her the women’s NCAA scoring record. And it wasn’t any of her subsequent 33 points or 13 assists.
It was a decision she made right before she left the game. With a minute left and Clark leading with 49 points, she got the ball in transition—and instead of going down and trying to get the 50, she sent a go-ahead pass to teammate Hannah Stuelke, who was fouled. Passing the ball was the right decision at the time, and Clark made the right—not selfish—decision.
It’s rare for someone to come in and change the way a sport is played. Clark did. Her scoring, coupled with her passing, makes her the best offensive player I’ve seen in my 35 years of playing and covering the women’s college game.
