Watching Caitlin Clark walk off the court for the final time brought a strange finality.
She’s 22 years old and a lock to be the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft, but as the Cleveland crowd gave her a standing ovation, it was almost as if Clark’s career was over. Clark created magic likely unattainable the rest of her basketball career; perhaps she may exceed her exploits at Iowa as a professional, but it won’t be the same.
College crowds and arenas are more raucous than the pros, with bigger team brands than the WNBA currently possesses. And the intensity of playing in single-elimination games in March is unmatched, just like the two-year run Clark just completed for Iowa.
Fans lined up before and after games — even on the road — to catch a glimpse, autographs or photographs as she broke some new record seemingly every game. Ticket prices jumped at the mere idea of her coming to town.
Ticket prices for the Albany Super Regional were listed around $50 on Ticketmaster before the brackets were announced and they jumped $100 within an hour of Iowa having a shot to play there. When Clark and Iowa won their Round of 32 game, prices soared again to $275, $200 more than prices for undefeated and eventual national champion South Carolina’s game in the same building.
And yet, as Clark’s career dwindled while shining a massive spotlight onto women’s basketball, most of the chatter was about what she hadn’t done or might not do.
No one is ever pleased with how a long-running saga ends, but in sports, we always seem to revert to the debate about the greatest of all-time. It’s become so indebted in sportstalk, so common with great players that it’s grown annoying, especially since the usual back and forth about a player’s individual greatness always seems to be defined by team achievements.
On top of all-time scoring records, assist records, numerous national player of the year awards, and four first-team All-American selections, Clark moved the needle more than any college basketball player ever, perhaps any singular college athlete.
The 2023 national championship game was the most-viewed women’s college game in history (9.9 million), all of Iowa’s games were sellouts this season, and a preseason game drew 55,646 people. Each team Iowa visited set an attendance record and the Big Ten tournament sold out this year for the first time ever.
In games this year, six different television networks or streaming services set records for the most-viewed women’s games broadcast on their platforms. Iowa’s last regular-season game, in which Clark broke Pete Maravich’s Division I scoring record, was the most-watched women’s regular-season game since 1999.
And then Friday’s national semifinal game against Connecticut was the most-watched college basketball game — men’s or women’s — ever broadcast on ESPN, with 14.2 million viewers. The national title game against South Carolina shattered that, becoming the most-watched basketball game since 2019, with 18.7 million viewers.
The only comparable college star in recent memory is Tim Tebow. But somehow we’re supposed to knock her down a peg because her team didn’t win a championship? Get out of here.
Even Clark knows better.
“People aren’t going to remember every single win or every single loss,” Clark said after Sunday’s loss to South Carolina. “I think they’re just gonna remember the moments that they shared at one of our games. Or watching on TV. Or how excited their young daughter or son got about watching women’s basketball. I think that’s pretty cool. Those are the things that mean the most to me.”
Instead of putting Clark in a position to be celebrated, the GOAT debate has spilled to current and former players, some of whom have taken a petty route. It’s understandable how players like Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi or Lynette Woodward might feel jaded after having great careers go unnoticed during their time.
Stewart, perhaps the best female basketball player in the world, was national player of the year three times at UConn and was the best player on four national championship teams. Taurasi won three national titles at UConn and is the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer.
Woodward lamented there was no 3-point line when she played and they used a men’s ball. Stewart said Clark had to win a championship to be in the conversation to be the GOAT, while Taurasi claimed current UConn star Paige Bueckers would be her top pick in the WNBA draft without elaborating.
None of them mentioned how Clark is dominating at a time when women’s basketball is not only growing in depth, but a few select schools are no longer hoarding all the top talent. From 1982 to 2015, six schools — Baylor, Louisiana Tech, Notre Dame, Stanford, UConn and Tennessee — accounted for half of women’s Final Four appearances, compared to the 46 different schools that reached a men’s Final Four in the same period.
Seventeen different schools have reached the women’s Final Four in the last 10 years. UConn hasn’t won a national title since 2016 after winning 10 in 16 years, while Tennessee hasn’t won since 2008, with the two schools combining for 15 national titles, 18 title game appearances and 25 Final Fours between 1996-2016.
Clark chose not to be part of a collection, staying in Iowa and taking a program that had been to one previous Final Four (1993) to back-to-back national title games. She led the nation in scoring and assists three times and never finished below No. 3 in either category over four years.
Winning 78.4% of 139 career games, Clark was held to fewer than 20 points 12 times — none in her final two seasons — and was held to single digits once in her career. She also accounted for 34.4% of Iowa’s points and 42.3% of its assists during her career.
“It’s certainly been hard at times, to always be in the spotlight and have everybody’s eyeballs on you,” Clark said. “But I wouldn’t change it for the world. The positive and the negative. I’m so lucky, I’m so fortunate. That’s what I always remind myself. There’s so many people that would want to be in my shoes.”
Any of the former stars who have scoffed at her achievements would certainly want to be in her shoes. Taurasi was quick to point out that UConn played in front of 29,000 people — incredible for the time — in the 2002 title game, leaving out that the Alamodome seats more than 73,000 people.
It’s hard to imagine Clark wouldn’t have drawn more in a bigger building, considering last-minute tickets Sunday were going for a minimum of $409. The Las Vegas Aces have already moved a July 2 game against the Indiana Fever — the team with the No. 1 pick in the draft — to an arena with 6,000 more seats, while tickets for Indiana’s game against Los Angeles are reaching $500.
Who knows if Clark is truly the greatest women’s basketball player ever — it’s almost disrespectful to think that way given the amount of ground it covers — but there’s no questioning that there’s never been a greater player for the game. From her Stephen Curry-like shooting style, to behind-the-back-passes and an intense passion, it’s easy to see how people latch onto her and that should be celebrated.
“I want to personally thank Caitlin Clark for lifting up our sport,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. “She carried a heavy load for our sport and it just is not going to stop here on a collegiate tour; but when she is the no. 1 in the WNBA draft, she’s gonna lift that league up, as well. So Caitlin Clark, if you’re out there, you are one of the GOATs of our games and we appreciate you.”