When Caitlin Clark took the court on Thursday, it looked as if the Gods were watching over her. The packed house at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena for a while appeared as an ancient Greek echo chamber. And then, the Olympus fell as the star shining brightly on the college horizon emerged numero uno. The rise of Caitlin Clark as America’s new sweetheart is rooted in resilience and the ability to live by an athlete’s oath: “Cut the cr*p and chase your dreams.” And for that, she was rewarded with not one but two records on the same day.

On Thursday, everyone was hopeful and rather confident that Clark would surpass the Washington Huskies icon Kelsey Plum’s 3,527 points record. But not everyone knew that Clark would accomplish one more feat while registering history. The 22-year-old broke the record, taking less than three minutes to score those crucial 8 points. Her record-breaking shot came with her favorite logo three 35 feet away from the basket.

Even after accomplishing such a big feat in 13 lesser games than Plum, Clark didn’t rest. She brought absolute joy to her home crowd by dropping a career-best 49 points, breaking her own school record in the process. The hunger for points in Clark didn’t seem to satiate even for a minute. On an eventful night, Clark also nabbed 5 rebounds and 13 assists. Thus, recording a double-double. With her assist tally, Clark went on to prove that despite being a leader in scoring points, she is extremely selfless. She put the team before herself.

Other than that, her shooting skills were impeccable throughout the night since she made 16-of-31 field goals. Her exceptional shooting skills came to the fore when she dropped 50% of her 18 three-point attempts. Thus, Clark registered her name in the history books and did it will equal passion and grace.

Clark’s on-court brilliance didn’t let her lose her humility, rather, she thanked everyone for being with her while reflecting on her milestone. “I don’t know if you could script it any better. Just to do it in this fashion, I’m very grateful and thankful to be surrounded by so many people who have been my foundation in everything I’ve done since I was a young little girl. You all knew I was going to shoot the logo 3 for the record,” Clark stated. The moment was opportune to reminisce about her journey from freshman to becoming a senior. Clark was considered a prodigy long before she entered high school.

A prodigal journey

As mentioned, Clark was a childhood prodigy. The Des Moines-born received her first letter of interest from Missouri State before she had made it to seventh grade. Towards the end of her high school career, Clark had ticked all the right boxes as she was considered a five-star recruit, also considered the fourth-best player in her class by ESPN.

Clark chose to play for Iowa and had offers from Notre Dame and Iowa State. She was excited to be coached under Lisa Bluder, who had a track record for honing point guards and was drawn to the team cause of their indomitable offense.

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Clark took on a key role, with Megan Gustafson and Kathleen Doyle moving out of the Hawkeyes roster. In her first game itself, Clark demonstrated that she was a scoring machine by recording 27 points with 8 rebounds and 4 assists. In her next game, Clark started her rampage. She dropped 30 points while supporting her team with 13 assists.

During Iowa’s clash with Western Illinois Leathernecks, Clark recorded a triple-double with 13 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. She had filled the gap left by Gustafson and Doyle and proved that she could be trusted with the team’s responsibilities. During her freshman year, Clark led the NCAA in scoring and was placed in the second position in assists and three-point average. She bagged the USBWA National Co-Freshman of the Year. (2021)

During her sophomore year, Clark was once again a force to reckon with. She dropped 44 points against the Evansville Purple Aces. This was a season where Clark would go on to repeat her 40-point heroics three more times. She clinched her second Dawn Staley Award and her first Nancy Lieberman Award.

Then, in her junior year, Clark cemented her crucial role in the team. She went on a lot of 30 and 40-point rampages. She had back-to-back 41-point games during the Elite 8 and Final 4 against the Louisville Cardinals and South Carolina Gamecocks, respectively. It was her exemplary performances that led the Hawkeyes to the Final against the Louisiana State University Lady Tigers, where they lost to Angel Reese and Co. Clark, however, still stood out for her performance of 30 points and 8 assists. Her charismatic display made the right noise in the college basketball circuit such that she won all the major National Player of the Year awards.

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This season too, Clark has been difficult to contain. She has throttled 32.1 points per game with an average of 7 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game. She has solidified her reputation as a true champion and created history. However, on the way to achieving greatness, she set many more benchmarks for women to follow.

A Record Machine

Apart from Clark having 3,569 points and being placed at the top of the mountain in the NCAA women’s basketball points scorers, the Iowa star has a list of records to her name. She became Iowa’s all-time leading scorer in her 103rd game.

She is the first Division-I player to have 3,300+ points, 900+ assists, and 800+ rebounds. Clark also has the most 30+ point games in men’s and women’s college basketball over the last 25 seasons. She also has 18 games with 30+ points and 10+ assists while over the last 25 seasons, no one has more than 2 such games.

Clark is also a dynamite when it comes to 40-point performances. She has four such games since 2020-21 against AP Top 10 teams. She is placed fifth on the Big Ten list with 58 career double-doubles. The Des Moines native also holds the Big Ten record for most weekly awards. She also became the first player with back-to-back 40-point games in the NCAA Tournament history.

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With the WNBA draft on the horizon, it is clear who will go Number 1. Caitlin Clark has created history and her name will be etched in the annals of basketball royalty for eternity.