When you talk about the greatest women’s basketball players of all time, Caitlin Clark is bound to be in the conversation. The Associated Press recently celebrated 50 years of its first Top 25 poll by unveiling the greatest players in the sport since 1976. Naturally, legends like Candace Parker and Clark topped the list. But while every name on the list felt deserving to fans, most felt CC wasn’t. As per critics, the former Hawkeyes sensation hasn’t earned a spot without a championship ring. Expect Clark fans to step up. 

Leading them was CC’s die-hard fan, Rachel Demita. Speaking on a recent episode of Courtside Club, she said: “Everybody is going to talk about it for whatever reason, because yes, when you look at this list, Diana Taurasi, multiple championships, and Cheryl Miller has two. So two championships. Breanna Stewart has four, and then Candace Parker also has multiple championships. So, everybody on here, but also everyone on here, went to a school that wasn’t Iowa.”

She also added, “People are going to talk online. People are going to try to put down Caitlin’s accomplishments just because she did not win a championship. The reason she’s on this list is because of all the records that she broke in college, and the fact that she led a team in Iowa to back-to-back national championship appearances with the team that she had. Anybody who has eyes, anybody who knows basketball at all realizes that she should absolutely be on this first team.”

And yes, Rachel has got points. All the others on the All-Time First Team selection-including Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, Cheryl Miller, and Candace Parker-have championship titles. But Caitlin Clark, without a national championship, deserved the spot, having created a legacy in her four years of college, if not the W yet.

CC made her debut for the Hawkeyes on November 25th as part of the 2020 recruiting class. She came in alongside Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers, but it was only Clark who caught the eyes of spectators early on. She posted an impressive average of 26.6 points with 7.0 assists during her freshman season. She even added her first career triple-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.

If that wasn’t enough, Clark also led NCAA Division I in scoring and became the first-ever freshman to win the Dawn Staley Award for best point guard. As a result, she was named to the First Team All-Big Ten honors. But that was just the beginning of her legendary career. As a sophomore, she averaged 27 points with 8 assists per game, becoming the first woman in Division I basketball to lead the nation in both stats during the same season.

She then earned unanimous First Team All-American honors, recording four triple-doubles, including the first-ever consecutive 30-point triple-doubles against ranked opponents in history. During her junior season, her stat line rose again. She averaged 27.8 points per game while leading Iowa to its first-ever National Championship Game appearance since 1993. Though the team was defeated in the finals, CC recorded a historic 40-point triple-double in the Elite Eight against Louisville.

Clark waited for her final year to unleash her real game. She posted 31.6 points with 8.9 assists per game while leading Division I in both scoring and assists for the second time. With 3,951 career points, she surpassed Pete Maravich to claim the all-time Division I scoring record for both men and women.

Still not convinced? Caitlin Clark shattered Stephen Curry’s single-season three-pointer record with 548 three-pointers, the most in Division I history. So yes, she deserved the title, which is why the Hawkeyes retired her No. 22 earlier this year. But while CC got her name on the list, another player was left off.

If Clark’s college feats are enough, Bueckers deserved her place too

If Caitlin Clark is one star whose presence is questioned, many feel there’s another who too deserved recognition. When you look at PB’s collegiate career, it reads like a dream with that national championship. Yet, she found herself completely absent from the All-Time First Team. The former UConn guard, who led the Huskies to three 18-0 seasons in the Big East and capped her career with a National Championship in 2025, was overlooked. She wasn’t even named to the Second Team or the reserves.

PB’s on-court resume speaks volumes. She debuted for UConn alongside Clark and averaged 20 points with 5.7 assists and nearly five rebounds per game as a freshman. She even shot an impressive 46.4% from three-point range. Later, she was named the unanimous National Freshman of the Year and became the first-ever freshman to claim the Nancy Lieberman Award.

Though her ACL tear halted her run, she returned even stronger. In 2023–24, she put up career-high numbers and guided UConn to the National Championship in 2025. She finished as UConn’s third-highest scorer and highest-scoring average leader, winning the Honda Sports Award for her final season. So, her exclusion is baffling. What do you think?