How Iowa's Caitlin Clark is revolutionizing women's basketball
It doesn't matter what arena she walks into, a capacity crowd will be waiting for her arrival. When she buried a shot from 40-feet out on Wednesday night, which swished gracefully through the basket but was called off due to a foul, you could hear it through your TV.
The oohing and aahing from the Purdue faithful spoke for itself. Caitlin Clark has taken the sports world by storm, and she's finding new ways to outdo herself every single time she steps on the hardwood.
In her latest act of greatness, Clark posted her second consecutive triple-double and 15th of her career, scoring 26 points with 10 rebounds and 10 assists in No. 3 Iowa's 96-71 victory at Purdue. At 3,244 career points, Clark is fifth on the NCAA women's basketball all-time scoring charts and is well on pace to break former Washington star Kelsey Plum's record of 3,527 points.
No matter what number you associate with the West Des Moines, Iowa native who elected to stay close to home for college and write her own story instead of going to Notre Dame, or Texas, or Duke, or Florida, you're going to get one result:
Dominance.
This was a young girl who, with older brothers growing up, played on an all-boys team at an AAU tournament. Other parents reportedly called the tournament director asking that Clark not be allowed to play. But it wasn't because it was an all-boys team, it was because of how unstoppable she was.
Clark has consistently been the best player on the basketball court at every level, and midway through her senior season at Iowa, she has already totaled 45 games with 30-plus points, the most in men's or women's college basketball in at least the last 25 years. Clark's playmaking ability and complete skill set are light years beyond her competition. From a shotmaking perspective, we have not seen this level of consistency and greatness in the sport of basketball since Steph Curry was named the NBA's MVP winner back in 2015 and 2016.
"I've never seen a female shoot the ball from where she's launching it from," FOX Sports' lead play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson said of Clark. "I feel like I'm watching a combination of Pistol Pete Maravich and Steph Curry. She's so fluid. She plays the game in a different dimension."
Anywhere Clark goes, the emotions of fans are as passionate during the postgame scene as they are during the game itself. Just listen to a young boy after Clark signed his shoe on Wednesday night at Mackey Arena.
Zach Edey is the best player in men's college basketball, but even he's not the most famous person to play a game in West Lafayette this year.
When the Indiana Fever won the WNBA Draft lottery last month, it was automatically termed the "Caitlin Clark Sweepstakes." Even though the Iowa superstar could come back with another year of eligibility, there is an expectation that she will head to the WNBA after this season.
From Nike to Gatorade, the endorsement deals have followed Clark's exceptional play and her small-town Iowa story is the American dream personified.
In her Gatorade ad, Clark states:
"I was once that little Iowa girl who was inspired to dream big. Real big. That dream was more than just women's basketball. It was a possibility that I turned into reality. I'm still that girl from Iowa, but now it's my time to inspire. If I can drop 40, you can drop 50. If I can sign with Gatorade, you can too."
Not only is Clark an outstanding player on the court, but she is equally great off it. There is a genuine humility from the Iowa superstar, one that she displayed during the Final Four last year. Instead of getting roped into a question on the showdown with South Carolina's Aliyah Boston in a national semifinal matchup, Clark simply said: "It's the Iowa Hawkeyes versus South Carolina."
When asked about her accomplishments and gaudy scoring numbers, Clark makes it a point to consistently redirect credit back to her teammates, something that head coach Lisa Bluder has gone on record saying has impressed her the most during Clark's journey.
The next chapter of that journey includes a Big Ten heavyweight battle against Mackenzie Holmes and No. 14 Indiana on Saturday night. The game is set to tip at 8 p.m. ET and will serve as FOX's Primetime Hoops matchup of the week (watch on FOX and the FOX Sports app).
Both Iowa and Indiana will enter Carver-Hawkeye Arena riding a 13-game winning streak.
The Hoosiers are 5-0 in the Big Ten for the first time in program history after Holmes delivered 21 points and 13 rebounds in a 75-67 win over Penn State at Assembly Hall on Wednesday.
The Hawkeyes, also sitting at 5-0 in conference play, are off to their best start in the Big Ten in 20 years, and their best overall start at 16-1 since 1995-96.
The setup could not be better for the sport of women's basketball as both teams get the much-deserved national spotlight with the A-team of Johnson, Sarah Kustok and Allison Williams calling this Big Ten clash.
It is the first of three FOX national broadcasts featuring Clark this season.
"Caitlin Clark is greatness, and I cannot wait for Saturday," Johnson said. "She is unquestionably the hottest ticket in sports."
Caitlin Clark speaks on her triple-double performance in Iowa's dominant win over Rutgers
Clark is worthy of being the face of the sporting world right now, and my message to anybody, whether you are a basketball fan or just a casual person:
Relish this. Watch her. I can guarantee that you won't be disappointed. Clark's game is a thing of beauty, and soon, she will officially be cemented as the greatest we've ever seen at the college level on the women's side.
Caitlin, thank you for putting on a show for us. We're enjoying every minute of it.
John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.
