Iowa’s Sweet 16 game against Louisville drew 2.5 million viewers on Sunday, more than any NBA game on ESPN this season.
A big part of that draw was the incredible Caitlin Clark, the Naismith Player of the Year and two-time Big Ten Player of the Year who absolutely didn’t disappoint with a 41-point triple-double to push Iowa to the Final Four.
With a meeting against the reigning national champion South Carolina awaiting the Hawkeyes Friday, that viewership could soar even higher, meaning more people will be introduced to Clark for the first time.
For those looking to learn more about the Iowa star before the big game, here are a few fun facts about Clark in her basketball journey.
1
She's a homegrown star
Clark didn’t just randomly choose Iowa for school. She’s a homegrown star, born and raised in West Des Moines, Iowa, just two hours from the university.
Playing her high school ball at Dowling Catholic, she led the state in scoring twice and was named Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year her senior season.
Caitlin Clark named Gatorade POY 2nd time in a row! Best PG In The HISTORY of Iowa HS Basketball! @CaitlinClark22
Senior Season Highlights: https://t.co/wHDh9oALAq pic.twitter.com/8XIuB0GUWP
— Courtside Films (@CourtsideFilms) March 6, 2020
2
She has 3 Team USA gold medals
Clark has enjoyed success on Team USA, winning gold medals in the 2019 and 2021 FIBA U19 World Cups and also the 2017 FIBA Americas U16 Championship.
The 2021 title came with World Cup MVP honors for Clark, who had just finished her freshman year at Iowa.
MVP! MVP! MVP! 🏆
Caitlin Clark wins the FIBA U19 World Cup Tournament MVP award.
Gold Medal hat trick
– 2017 FIBA Americas U16🥇
– 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup🥇
– 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup🥇She accumulated 100 points, 37 rebounds, 39 assists and 7 steals over the tournament. pic.twitter.com/FR1VnrZIC2
— Kyle Huesmann (@HuesmannKyle) August 15, 2021
3
Fastest player to 2,000 career points
Clark eclipsed 2,000 career points in her 75th career game, which tied Elena Delle Donne for the fastest in NCAA Div. I women’s basketball history.
Her career-high is 46 points, which she scored in a loss to Michigan last February. It’s one of seven 40-point games in her career, including three this season.
Caitlin Clark tied Elena Delle Donne as the fastest players to reach 2,000 career points in the fewest games (75) in men's or women's DI basketball since at least 1999-00 👏 #ThatsaW pic.twitter.com/K4ypYI1UdW
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 21, 2022
4
She scores and dishes
Not only is Clark the country’s third-leading scorer at 27.3 points, she also leads the country in assists at 8.6 per game. She’s the only player in Big Ten Conference history to reach top-10 all-time in both categories.
That’s also led to 11 career triple-doubles, which are tied for the second-most all time behind Sabrina Ionescu.
5
She has the highest scoring triple-double in tourney history
If you did happen to catch Clark’s game against Louisville where she had 41 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists, you were watching history. Clark became the only player in women’s or men’s NCAA tournament history to record a 40-point triple-double.
In fact, she could’ve stopped 11 points sooner and still been the first player with a 30-point triple-double.
Caitlin Clark is the ONLY women's or men's player in history with a 40-point triple-double in an NCAA tourney game 😱
🏀 41 PTS
🏀 10 REB
🏀 12 AST
🏀 3 STL
🏀 8-14 3-PT FG pic.twitter.com/su2CKNY6Zg— ESPN (@espn) March 27, 2023
6
She has two years of eligibility left
A junior, Clark will return to Iowa for at least one more season next year, where she can shatter quite a few more records. But if she really wants to put some records out of reach, she can use her COVID year for a fifth season of eligibility.
But with a long pro career awaiting her, I’m not sure that should be expected.
