Caitlin Clark named Naismith Player of the Year
The women’s basketball games in Cleveland will take place later this week. Wednesday was about handing out a very prestigious award and for the second straight year the Naismith Award for the best Women’s Basketball Player in NCAA Basketball went to Caitlin Clark.
Clark becomes the eighth college player to win the award in back to back years. Also in that exclusive club are Cheryl Miller, Dawn Staley, Chamique Holdsclaw, Diana Taurasi, Seimone Augustus, Britney Griner, and Brianna Stewart. Miller and Stewart won the award three straight years.
Previously, Iowa’s Megan Gustafson won the award in 2019.
Clark owns a career 3,900 points and she recently became the first Division-I player to record 1,000+ points in back-to-back seasons. This season she has scored 1,183 points and is averaging 32.0 points per game. She became the first player to score over 1,000 points in back to back seasons. For her career, Clark is averaging 28.5 points per game.
On Monday, the All American guard scored 41 points and dished out 12 assists in a win over LSU. It’s the second year in a row that Clark has posted a 41 point and 12 assists in an Elite Eight game. It once again led to a return trip to the Final Four for the Hawkeyes.
She set the single game scoring mark for an Iowa player this year with 49 points against Michigan. Overall, she reached the 40 point mark five times this year. Clark also scored over 30 points 15 times this season. Overall, she has scored more than 30 points in 56 games in her college career.
Overall, she is the all-time leading scorer in NCAA men’s and women’s basketball history. He is also holds the record for most points and assists in Big Ten history.
Clark is also the first Iowa player to earn All Big Ten honors in four straight seasons. Once again this year Clark was named Big Ten Player of Year. She was also a three time MVP of the Big Ten Tournament, which was won each year by Iowa.
