On Sunday, Caitlin Clark played the final basketball game of her college career. Though the Iowa Hawkeyes ceded the national championship to the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks in an 87-75 loss, Clark finished the game with an impressive 30 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists.
But last weekend’s 40-minute game—in which 18.7 million viewers saw her break the record for the most points in a single quarter of an NCAA championship game—was just a snapshot of Clark’s astounding basketball career thus far.
On March 3, Clark became the NCAA Division I all-time scoring leader for men and women and just days later, she broke Stephen Curry’s NCAA record for the most 3-pointers in one season. For her 2023-24 senior season, she was the all-time leader in assists for the Big Ten and won both the Naismith Player of the Year and the AP Player of the Year awards for the second year in a row.
Clark’s talent on the court has taken the sports world by storm. Women’s trailblazing tennis star Billie Jean King called Clark “indomitable,” two-time Super Bowl champion Peyton Manning said she has “inspired millions,” and Hall of Fame NBA guard Magic Johnson said she has “changed the game forever.” At the victory podium following Sunday’s game, South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley acknowledged Clark’s historic contribution to women’s basketball and said, “I want to personally thank Caitlin Clark for lifting up our sport.”
But in addition to her talent, Clark has grown to become a grounded, unselfish, and motivating leader who is an example to all her fans of what can be achieved when leaders encourage their team.
As Clark said, “The things I can say about my teammates and truly believe and instill that confidence in them, that’s one of the coolest things as a point guard, as a leader, as a friend, as a teammate. That’s how much better you can make people by just believing in them and telling that to them, to their face.”
Read more here from Gingrich 360.
