Who is Caitlin Clark? The star of the show heading into NCAA March Madness!

Ready to dance
Ranked second
Star of the show
Declaring for the draft
Stacked region
How did she get here?
Level above
Early success
Choosing Iowa State
Leading the country
Leading in points and assists
NCAA Tournament
2023 tournament
Losing to LSU
Personal accolades
Passing Plum
Record scorer
Hitting a free throw
Inspire to success?
Ready to dance

Caitlin Clark and her Iowa Hawkeyes are ready to dance, having been awarded their first number-one seed at the NCAA Tournament since 1992, according to Sports Illustrated.

Ranked second

Iowa is ranked second overall behind the undefeated South Carolina GC and is expected to play the winner of Holy Cross versus UT Martin on March 22nd or 23rd.

Star of the show

Clark is the number one star of the show at the 2024 March Madness, having broken numerous records and leading Iowa to a Big 10 three-peat.

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Declaring for the draft

ESPN reported that Clark had declared for the 2024 WNBA Draft, meaning she will not return to Iowa for a fifth NCAA season, making this her final shot at March Madness success.

Stacked region

The journey in her final trip to the NCAA tournament looks to be treacherous in a region with teams like LSU, UCLA, Kansas, and Colorado all aiming for national success.

How did she get here?

Where has Caitlin Clark come from to make it as the star of the show at March Madness?

Level above

From the start, Clark was always a few steps ahead of her peers, playing against high school seniors as an eighth grader and becoming one of the top prospects in the country at Dowling Catholic High School.

Early success

As reported by the Biography website, Clark was a two-time Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year and had international success with the US U19's team, winning the FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Choosing Iowa State

ESPN ranked Clark as the fourth-best prospect in 2020, and after multiple Division One offers, Clark chose to join Iowa State over Notre Dame in November 2019.

Leading the country

Right from the jump, Clark dominated in college, starting all 30 games for Iowa State, and leading the country in points scored (26.6 PPG), total assists, three-point shots, and total field goals. She was named Big 10 Freshman of the Year.

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Leading in points and assists

According to the Biography website, in her sophomore year, Clark became the first woman to lead the NCAA Division One in points and assists (27 and 8) and joined six NBA players since 2000 to record back-to-back 30-point triple-doubles.

NCAA Tournament

The NCAA Tournament has been something that has eluded Clark during her college career, suffering an embarrassing loss to Creighton in 2022 and losing to Connecticut in 2021.

2023 tournament

As reported by ESPN, Clark had a historic NCAA Tournament in 2023, averaging 26 points and 11 rebounds in her first three tournament games and recording a 41-point triple-double in the Elite Eight game against Louisville, the most of any NCAA Tournament triple-double in history.

Losing to LSU

Ultimately, after a historic run, Clark and Iowa State lost to Louisiana State University and Angel Reese in the final, falling to a 102-85 defeat.

Personal accolades

In 2023, Clark won the AP Player of the Year, the Honda Sports Award, the John R. Wooden Award, the Naismith College Player of the Year, the USBWA National Player of the Year, and the Wade Trophy.  She was the first unanimous National Player of the Year.

Passing Plum

Clark surpassed Kelsey Plum as the women's NCAA Division One point holder on February 15th, grabbing 49 points and 13 assists. She was directly involved in 79 of her team points, the most by any Division I women's player in at least 25 seasons, ESPN states.

Record scorer

Clark is now officially the NCAA record points scorer for men and women, ending 'Pistol' Pete Maravich's 54-year record on March 3rd.

Hitting a free throw

As reported by Forbes, Clark broke Maravich's record of 3,667 points with a free throw in the first half of the game against number two-ranked Ohio State. She finished the game with 35 points, nine assists, and six rebounds.

 

Inspire to success?

Clark led the Hawkeyes to their third straight Big 10 Championship last week, beating the Nebraska Cornhuskers 94-89 in overtime. Can it inspire them to NCAA success?

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