As Caitlin Clark Surpasses Pete Maravich for NCAA’s Leading Scorer, Kim Mulkey Provides Her Take on Massive Achievement

Published 03/04/2024, 4:32 PM EST

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USA Today via Reuters

Caitlin Clark has finally made it to the top, etching her name in gilded letters of college basketball history as she broke the legendary Pete Maravich’s 54-year-old record in #6 Iowa’s 93-83 win against #2 Ohio State. Clark entered her home court needing only 18 points to surpass Maravich’s 3667 points that he amassed in just 83 games in three seasons playing for LSU (1967-70).

Now, many comparisons have been revolving around the news circle, one being made between Maravich and Clark’s careers. Addressing the elephant in the room, LSU coach Kim Mulkey shares her insights on this.

Kim Mulkey’s take on Clark’s remarkable accomplishment

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In a recent interview with the press, coach Kim Mulkey expressed some interesting thoughts surrounding the comparison being made between Pete Maravich and Caitlin Clark. She said, “I don’t look at comparing apples to oranges. What Clark has done is unbelievable, and her name will be right up there at the top.”

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Talking about both players’ scoring prowess in their times, she said, “But he played over here with no three-point line for three years and I don’t think we need to make too much of, ‘oh she passed him cuz he’s a man!’ Or, you know, she got, she’s who she is, and that’s awesome. And Lord knows when I played against her, I was like, are you kidding me? What a generational talent! But I don’t look at it like that I look at it, like this two separate things right there. We good!”

It’s overwhelming that Clark has achieved so much in this single season, surpassing significant milestones one by one to become the all-time leading scorer in Division I college men’s and women’s basketball history. It was truly a commendable feat when she surpassed 50-year strong record that Pete Maravich had set in his time at LSU.

Mulkey’s opinion of keeping the achievements of Maravich and Clark side by side, rather than Clark acing Maravich, is very thoughtful. These two stars have achieved this milestone with a lot of difference in their time and situations and the number of games played to reach it.

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Although this season has been echoing mostly about Clark, however, it will be unfair to recall the legendary Maravich’s time on the court. Let’s get into it.

Remembering Pistol Pete

Played for the LSU from 1967 to 1970, Pete was nothing short of a remarkable talent. His father Press Maravich served as the team’s head coach at the time. For almost 50 years, the all-time leading NCAA Division I scorer’s record was being held under Pete’s name until yesterday when Caitylin Clark surpassed his score of 3667 career points that he amassed with an outstanding average of 44.2 points per game.

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As Kim Mulkey puts it, “Pete Maravich could do things with the basketball that I had never seen done in my life. Who can go behind your back, between your legs, and he could just see things ahead of his time? The movie, y’all see his movie back in the day? A lot of it was filmed in Hammond and Ponchatoula, so I was just glued to all the videos and the things that he did.”

Undoubtedly, both Maravich and Clark have strongly and significantly contributed toward bringing a change in the game, along with widening people’s perspective of who they are and what they can do. What an engraving and everlasting impact!

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Written by:

Dimple Gupta

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Dimple Gupta is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. Dimple is adept at in-depth coverage and brings insightful coverage with her captive chronicles. Her articles often discuss trade details, NIL deals, and other monetary aspects.
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Edited by:

Bilal Handoo