Caitlin Clark

Caitlin Clark (born January 22, 2002) is an American college basketball player for the Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big Ten Conference. She plays the point guard position.

At Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, Clark was named a McDonald's All-American and was ranked fourth in her class by ESPN. In her first season at Iowa, Clark led the NCAA Division I in scoring, three-pointers and total assists. She was named a second-team All-American; won the Dawn Staley Award, one of two major awards for the top Division I women's point guard; and shared national freshman of the year honors. As a sophomore, she was named Big Ten Player of the Year; was chosen as a first-team All-American by all major selectors in women's basketball; again received the Dawn Staley Award; received the other national honor for women's point guards, the Nancy Lieberman Award; and became the first woman ever to lead D-I in per-game scoring and assists in the same season.

Clark has won three gold medals representing the United States at the youth international level. She was named Most Valuable Player of the 2021 FIBA Under-19 Women's Basketball World Cup.

Early life

Clark was born on January 22, 2002, in Des Moines, Iowa, to Anne Nizzi-Clark and Brent Clark. Her mother is of Italian descent. Clark's father played basketball and baseball at Simpson College. She was raised in West Des Moines, Iowa, with an older brother, Blake, now a college football player at Iowa State, and a younger brother, Colin. Clark started playing basketball at age five and was the only girl on a boys youth team. She also played softball, volleyball, soccer and tennis as a child before focusing on basketball.

In sixth grade, Clark joined All Iowa Attack, an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball program based in Ames, Iowa, for whom she would play until graduating from high school. She played against older opponents, facing high school seniors by eighth grade. Clark drew inspiration from Maya Moore of the Minnesota Lynx, the closest WNBA team to her hometown, and traveled with her father for 3 hours to see their games. She also looked up to her cousins, Haley and Audrey Faber, who played for Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, and All Iowa Attack alum Harrison Barnes.

High school career

Clark played four years of varsity basketball for Dowling Catholic High School under head coach Kristin Meyer. As a freshman, she averaged 15.3 points, 4.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game, earning Class 5A All-State second team accolades and leading her team to the state quarterfinals. In her sophomore season, Clark averaged 27.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, four assists and 2.3 steals, helping Dowling Catholic achieve a 20–4 record and return to the state quarterfinals. She ranked second in the state in scoring and was named to the Class 5A All-State first team.

As a junior, on February 4, 2019, Clark scored 60 points in a 90–78 win against Mason City High School, the second-best scoring output in Iowa five-on-five history. During the game, she broke the state single-game record with 13 three-pointers. Clark finished the season averaging a state-best 32.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.3 steals per game. She led Dowling Catholic to the state semifinals as the team finished with a 17–8 record. Clark was named Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year and repeated as a Class 5A All-State first team selection. As a senior, she averaged 33.4 points, eight rebounds, four assists and 2.7 steals per game, leading the state in scoring for a second time. Her team finished with a 19–4 record and reached the Class 5A regional final, where they were upset by Sioux City East High School. Clark finished her career with 2,547 points, the fourth-most in Iowa five-on-five history. She was awarded Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year, ''Des Moines Register'' All-Iowa Athlete of the Year, and Iowa Miss Basketball, while making the Class 5A All-State first team. Clark was selected to compete in the McDonald's All-American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic, but both games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During high school, Clark was AAU teammates with future Iowa State players Ashley and Aubrey Joens on the All Iowa Attack. She helped the team win the 2018 Nike Elite Youth Basketball League championship, and achieve runner-up finishes in 2017 and 2019. In her first two years at Dowling Catholic, Clark started on the school's varsity soccer team, but focused on basketball for her final two years.

Recruiting

Clark was recruited by NCAA Division I basketball programs before starting high school, receiving her first letter of interest from Missouri State before seventh grade. By her sophomore season at Dowling Catholic, she was ranked the number one player in the 2020 high school class by ESPN. At the end of her high school career, Clark was considered a five-star recruit and the fourth-best player in her class by ESPN. On November 12, 2019, she announced her commitment to play college basketball for Iowa over offers from Iowa State and Notre Dame. Clark was drawn to the team's uptempo style of offense and head coach Lisa Bluder's development of point guards. She also expected to immediately have a key role on the team with the departure of Kathleen Doyle, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year.

College career

Freshman season

When Clark arrived at Iowa in 2020, she made an immediate impact on at least one of her new teammates. In a 2022 story, ESPN writer M.A. Voepel noted, "Monika Czinano realized then-freshman guard Caitlin Clark had no fear of taking risks — or really anything, for that matter." Czinano, who was a junior in the 2020–21 season, recalled, "It's hard to believe that she had so much confidence coming in."

On November 25, 2020, Clark made her collegiate debut for Iowa, recording 27 points in a 96–81 win over Northern Iowa. She set the Iowa freshman record with 26.6 points per game, recorded the fourth-highest points per game in single season in Iowa history, and was the 2020-21 NCAA Division I scoring leader. During the season, Clark was the only player to record 12 games of 30 points or more, the most by an NCAA Division I freshman since 2000. She led the nation in total assists (214), total points (799), points per game (26.6), field goals made (266), 3-pointers made (116), and ranked second in assists per game (7.1) and 3-pointers per game (3.87). Her total points scored (799) were the most ever by a freshman, and her single game high of 39 points is a school record. She recorded 214 assists, the most by a freshman in program history. She won five Big Ten Conference Player of the Week awards, more than any other player in the Big Ten. Clark was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week a conference record 13 times. At the end of the regular season, she was named Big Ten Freshmen of the Year and unanimous First Team All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Freshman Team selection. Clark shared two major NCAA Division I freshman of the year awards with Paige Bueckers of UConn: the Tamika Catchings Award, presented by the United States Basketball Writers Association, and the WBCA Freshman of the Year award, presented by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.

Sophomore season

During her sophomore season in 2021–22, she reached the 1,000-point mark in Iowa's first game of calendar 2022 and the 40th of her career, making her the fastest Big Ten women's player to reach that milestone. She is also only the second D-I women's player in the 21st century to reach that milestone in 40 or fewer career games, with the first being Elena Delle Donne (38 games with Delaware). Clark also recorded five triple-doubles that season, a feat previously accomplished in a single season by only four NCAA Division I women's players. On January 16 and 20, 2022, she recorded 30-point triple-doubles against Nebraska and Minnesota, making her the first D-I player of either sex to score 30 points in consecutive triple-doubles, and also the first Big Ten women's player with consecutive triple-doubles regardless of scoring total. Clark's feat of consecutive 30-point triple-doubles had also never been accomplished in the WNBA, and at the time had only been accomplished by six NBA players in the 21st century. Clark compiled 304 points, 77 rebounds, and 91 assists in January 2022, making her the only D-I player, male or female, with a 300–75–75 stat line for a calendar month in the past 20 years. She also had a streak of 19 games with at least 15 points and 5 assists, the longest such streak in D-I women's basketball since the NCAA officially recorded assists; the only longer such streak by a D-I men's player was by current NBA star Trae Young at Oklahoma. Clark ended the season as the first woman ever to lead D-I in per-game scoring (27.0) and assists (8.0) in the same season. Her assists also played a role in Czinano leading D-I in field goal percentage, making Iowa the first D-I men's or women's program with the national leaders in those three categories in a single season. After the regular season, she was named the Big Ten Player of the Year in separate votes by Big Ten coaches and media; was named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press and the USBWA, with the AP vote being unanimous; was named to the WBCA's 10-member All-America team; and received two awards for the top D-I point guard, the Nancy Lieberman Award and Dawn Staley Award. Clark was also named a first-team Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Junior season

Before her junior season, Clark was signed to a name, image, and likeness deal with Iowa's athletic supplier, Nike. She was also a unanimous selection for the AP's preseason All-America team, and was the choice of both Big Ten coaches and conference media as the conference's preseason player of the year.

College

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National team career

Clark represented the United States at the 2017 FIBA Under-16 Women's Americas Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She came off the bench and averaged 8.8 points per game, helping her team achieve a 5–0 record and win the gold medal. Clark played at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Women's Basketball World Cup in Bangkok, Thailand. In seven games, she averaged 5.3 points per game and won another gold medal, as her team finished with a 7–0 record. Clark competed at the 2021 FIBA Under-19 Women's Basketball World Cup in Debrecen, Hungary and led the United States to the gold medal. She averaged a team-high 14.3 points, 5.6 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game, was named Most Valuable Player and made the All-Tournament Team.

See also

* List of NCAA Division I women's basketball season scoring leaders
* List of NCAA Division I women's basketball season assists leaders
*List of NCAA Division I basketball career triple-doubles leaders

Footnotes

References

External links

Iowa Hawkeyes bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Caitlin
2002 births
Living people
American women's basketball players
Basketball players from Des Moines, Iowa
Dowling Catholic High School alumni
Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball players
McDonald's High School All-Americans
Point guards