Better than Jordan? Better than Curry? How I discovered the real G.O.A.T of the NCAA basketball and why she, not Jordan or Curry, should be appreciated more in today’s world.
A huge disclaimer: I’m not a basketball guy. Before this piece, I wouldn’t watch NCAA basketball for either men or women, I wouldn’t even watch NBA beyond the Finals with my family.
However, March Madness, with its huge brackets, and my yearbook teacher Mr. Battaglini got me intrigued into finding out who this collegiate offensive wizard is.
If I was to ask you who is the all-time scorer in NCAA history, you’d probably say “Jordan,” maybe “Curry”, if you’re like me you said, “Michael Jordan.” You’d think it would need to be one of them, right? Wrong! The all-time leading scorer isn’t even a guy, it’s a girl and her name is Cailtlin Clark.
As I looked into who Caitlin Clark was, I found out she’s the 6 foot guard from the University of Iowa. She just came off leading the Iowa Hawkeyes to the runner up spot in the NCAA Championship last year, and she’s coming back with a vengeance.
On March 3rd, she surpassed the all time NCAA career scoring record at 3,667 points held by Pete Maravich. Clark is currently at 3,771 points. Pete Maravich or his nickname “Pistol Pete” was the legendary collegiate player of the 1970’s, playing for LSU and later for the Atlanta Hawks and New Orleans Jazz.
As I surprisingly found out, he achieved the NCAA scoring record in only 3 seasons, before the shot clock, and before the 3 point line (NBA). That meant that the games he played were way lower scoring than the modern day collegiate game. He ended up with an average of 44.2ppg and an NCAA record of 3,667 points. He was then drafted in the 1st round as the number 3 pick, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame as the youngest player in history.
Throughout the writing of this piece, I kept thinking to myself, “These two are very similar” which made me deep dive even more into the Clark and Maravich similarities. Comparing Clark to him is important because her dribbling skills, ball handling and balls are so similar to Maravich’s. Just like Pistol Pete, Clark excites fans with her behind the back passes, epic crossovers, and explosive playmaking abilities. Here’s a youtube clip of her showcasing her behind the back pass. Now compare her to Pistol Pete’s behind the back pass. While they don’t use the exact same technique, the guts they show off in order to complete the pass during regular season games is incredible.
Talking about the regular season, Clark has accomplished some great achievements this year. With an average of 32.3 ppg and a virtual lock for the number one spot in the upcoming WNBA draft., Clark has destroyed every scoring record in the record book. She has beaten Kelsey Plum’s record, then she passed Lynette Woodward’s career record on Feb 28, and Pete Maravich’s record. She is 290 points away from eclipsing Pearl Moore’s AIAW record (Pre-NCAA era all time record) at 4,061 points. It’s highly unlikely she reaches the goal, as she would need to score 58.1 points per game in all the following rounds of March Madness, including in the championship game.
With all of these records being broken, the public has been excited to see Clark, just like fans were excited to see Pete Maravich. Clark’s appearance and offensive capabilities have made attendance jump up by 150% (Gopher’s Baskeball). Just like when so many people were so excited to see Maravich and his insane 44.2 PPG that “overflow spectators packed the aisles.”, both boys and girls want to see Clark and get her autograph.
Although Clark and Maravich are pretty similar in playing style and overall excitement from fans, Maravich specialized in fancy passes and scoring, while Clark specializes in deep threes, fast breaks, and assists. Clark’s fast breaks is why she leads the league in 8.7 assists per game, showing that she doesn’t care if gets the points on a breakaway as long as the ball gets in the basket. Even though she is an all around great player, Clark loves the deep three so much that when she passed Lynette Woodward’s NCAA scoring record against Michigan on Feb.25, she broke it with a half court three. “Y’all knew I was going to shoot a logo 3 for the record,” Clark said during the after game interview.
Me and everyone is excited to see Clark surpass the records of the greats in the NCAA pantheon, she will not break Pearl Moore’s AIAW scoring record of 4,061, which was also set before the 3-point shot.
However, her main prize, and quite frankly everybody’s, is winning the NCAA championship with Iowa. After losing to LSU last year by 17 points, she has obviously made it her life’s mission to win it this year.
In a legendary rematch against LSU on Sunday in the Elite Eight, Clark led the Hawkeys to a 94-87 victory over the Tigers. Clark led the team with 41 points, 12 assists and 7 rebounds, and although it’s her highest scoring game of March Madness, her previous performances deserve loads of credit. With performances of 27 points against #16 Holy Cross (91-65) in round 1, 32 points against West Virginia (64-54) in round 2 where she scored half the team’s points, 29 points against Colorado (89-68) in the sweet sixteen, it’s obvious why she was voted the Regional’s Most Valuable Player.
As I concluded researching Clark and her legendary collegiate career, I realized that I could still witness it in action. Which is why I invite you to watch the remainder of the March Madness, this weekend’s Women’s Final Four, and Clark. After all, It’s either win or bust for Clark, as she has declared it is her last season playing college ball. She has declared for the WNBA draft and is projected to go first in the draft to the Indiana Fever.
But before she goes, she and the Iowa Hawkeyes are two wins away from completing their goal of becoming NCAA champions, and while it could be a fitting end to an amazing year and an amazing college career, Clark has made her mark on college basketball and women’s sports, and will continue to do so.
