Caitlin Clark History E-Book and music video produced by Al Young. The music video is also great for dancing and exercise. This is a Free E-Book. Donations are accepted at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/sportshistorybook
Introduction
Caitlin Clark (born January 22, 2002) is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes and is regarded as one of the greatest collegiate players of all time. Caitlin is the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer and was a two-time national player of the year with the Iowa Hawkeyes. Since her college career, she has helped popularize women's basketball, a trend known as the "Caitlin Clark Effect." She was selected first overall by the Fever in the 2024 WNBA draft.
Caitlin attended Dowling Catholic High School in her hometown of West Des Moines, Iowa, where she was named a McDonald's All-American and rated the fourth-best player in her class by ESPN. In her freshman season with Iowa, she led the NCAA Division I in scoring and earned All-American honors. As a sophomore, Caitlin was a unanimous first-team All-American and became the first women's player to lead Division I in points and assists in a single season. In her junior season, she was the national player of the year and led Iowa to its first national championship game. Caitlin again led Division I in assists and set Big Ten single-season marks in points and assists. As a senior, she repeated as national player of the year and helped Iowa return to the national title game. Caitlin became the women's Division I career and single-season leader in points and three-pointers and broke the all-time conference record in assists, while leading the nation in both points and assists.
At the youth international level, Caitlin has won three gold medals with the United States, including two at the FIBA Under-19 Women's World Cup, where she was named Most Valuable Player in 2021.
Early life
Caitlin Clark was born on January 22, 2002, in Des Moines, Iowa to Brent, a vice president at a product company, and Anne. And Anne's father was the football coach and a school administrator at Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines. Caitlin grew up in the city. She began playing basketball at age five and competed in boys' recreational leagues, because her father could not find a girls' league for her age group.
Caitlin Clark also played softball, volleyball, soccer, tennis, and golf as a child before focusing on basketball. At age 13, she began playing several years ahead of her age group in girls' leagues. In sixth grade, she joined All Iowa Attack, an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball program based in Ames, Iowa and played for teams in the program until graduating from high school. She was coached by Dickson Jensen with Attack, and her AAU teammates included future Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) player Ashley Joens. Caitlin drew inspiration from Maya Moore of the Minnesota Lynx, the closest WNBA team to her hometown, and traveled with her father for three-and-a-half hours each way (seven hours roundtrip) to see their games. She admired All Iowa Attack alumnus Harrison Barnes and became a fan of the North Carolina Tar Heels after Barnes joined the program.
High school career
Caitlin played four years of varsity basketball for Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines under head coach Kristin Meyer. As a freshman, she averaged 15.3 points, 4.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game. She earned Class 5A All-State third-team accolades from the Iowa Newspaper Association and All-Iowa honorable mention from The Des Moines Register. Caitlin led her team to a 19–5 record and the Class 5A state tournament, where they lost to eventual champions Valley High School in the first round. In her sophomore season, she averaged 27.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2.3 steals per game, ranking second in the state in scoring. Caitlin was named first-team Class 5A All-State by the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association (IPSWA) and Central Iowa Metro League Player of the Year by The Des Moines Register. She helped Dowling reach the Class 5A state quarterfinals and achieve a 20–4 record. Following the season, she led All Iowa Attack to the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League championship, scoring 23 points in a 64–61 victory over the Cal Storm in the final.
On February 4, 2019, during her junior season, Caitlin scored 60 points in a 90–78 win against Mason City High School. Her 60-point game was the second-highest single-game point total in Iowa five-on-five girls' basketball history, surpassed only by Abby Roe in 1996. She also set the state single-game record with 13 three-pointers. On February 25, Caitlin set the Class 5A state tournament single-game scoring record with 42 points in a 75–70 triple-overtime win over Waukee High School in the quarterfinals. She helped Dowling reach the semifinals of the tournament and finish with a 17–8 record. As a junior, Caitlin led the state in scoring and averaged 32.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.3 steals per game. She was named Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year and repeated as a Class 5A All-State first-team selection by the IPSWA. As a senior, Clark 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 the fourth-most points (2,547) and the sixth-most three-pointers (283) 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 IPSWA Class 5A All-State first-team. Caitlin was selected to compete in the McDonald's All-American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic, two prestigious high school all-star games, but both games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In her first two years at Dowling, Caitlin was a starter on the school's varsity soccer team but focused on basketball for her final two years. In her freshman season, she scored 23 goals and was named to the Class 3A All-Iowa team by The Des Moines Register.
Recruiting
Caitlin 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, she was considered a five-star recruit and the fourth-best player in her class by ESPN. Her family wanted her to choose Notre Dame, and she made a verbal commitment to the school's then-head coach Muffet McGraw. However, Clark never signed a National Letter of Intent with the school, and soon reconsidered, announcing on November 12, 2019, that she would commit to play college basketball for Iowa over offers from Iowa State and Notre Dame. Clark was drawn to the team's up-tempo 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
2020–21: Freshman season
Caitlin entered her freshman season as Iowa's starting point guard. On November 25, 2020, she made her collegiate debut, recording 27 points, eight rebounds, and four assists in a 96–81 win over Northern Iowa. In her second game, on December 2, she posted her first double-double with 30 points and 13 assists in a 103–97 victory over Drake. On December 22, in a 92–65 victory over Western Illinois, she registered the first triple-double by an Iowa player since Samantha Logic did so in 2015. Despite shooting 3-of-15 from the field, Caitlin had 13 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists during the game. On January 6, 2021, she recorded 37 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in a 92–79 win against Minnesota. Clark posted a season-high 39 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in an 88–81 win over Nebraska on February 11, breaking the single-game scoring record for Pinnacle Bank Arena, the home venue of Nebraska. On February 28, she scored 18 points and had a season-high 14 assists in an 84–70 win over Wisconsin. At the end of the regular season, Clark was a unanimous Big Ten Freshman of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten selection. She was a 13-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week, setting a conference record, and led the Big Ten with five Player of the Week awards.
Caitlin helped Iowa achieve a runner-up finish at the Big Ten tournament, where she was named to the all-tournament team and recorded 37 assists, the most in the event's history. In the second round of the NCAA tournament, she posted 35 points, seven rebounds and six assists in an 86–72 win over Kentucky. She broke program single-game records for points and three-pointers (6) in the tournament. Iowa reached the Sweet 16, where Caitlin scored 21 points in a 92–72 loss to first-seeded UConn. She was named a first-team All-American by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), a second-team All-American by the Associated Press (AP) and made the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Coaches' All-America team. Caitlin became the first freshman to win the Dawn Staley Award, which honors the best Division I guard. She shared two major Division I freshman of the year awards with Paige Bueckers of UConn: the Tamika Catchings Award, presented by the USBWA, and the WBCA Freshman of the Year award. As a freshman, Caitlin averaged 26.6 points, 7.1 assists, and 5.9 rebounds per game. She led the NCAA Division I in scoring and ranked second in assists and three-pointers per game. Her totals in points, assists, field goals and three-pointers also led Division I. She set program freshman records for points and assists and had the fourth-highest scoring average in Iowa history.
2021–22: Sophomore season
On November 9, 2021, Caitlin made her sophomore season debut, recording 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists in a 93–50 win over New Hampshire. On January 2, 2022, she posted 44 points and eight assists in a 93–56 win over Evansville. Caitlin broke the Carver–Hawkeye Arena women's single-game scoring record and surpassed Kelsey Mitchell of Ohio State as the fastest Big Ten player to reach 1,000 career points. On January 16, 2022, she recorded her fourth career triple-double, with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 93–83 victory over Nebraska. In her next game, four days later, Clark posted 35 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists in a 105–49 win over Minnesota. She became the first Division I men's or women's player to record consecutive triple-doubles with at least 30 points and the first women's player in Big Ten history with consecutive triple-doubles. On January 25, Caitlin had 18 assists, which set program and tied conference single-game records, in addition to 20 points and seven rebounds in a 107–79 win against Penn State. On January 31, she recorded 43 points, seven assists and four rebounds in a 92–88 loss to Ohio State. On February 6, Caitlin scored a season-high 46 points, including 25 in the fourth quarter, and had 10 assists in a 98–90 loss to Michigan. She set the women's single-game scoring record for Crisler Center, the home arena of Michigan. After leading Iowa to a share of the Big Ten regular season title, she was unanimously named Big Ten Player of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten by the league's coaches and media.
On March 5, 2022, in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament, Caitlin recorded 41 points and nine rebounds in an 83–66 win over Nebraska. She led Iowa to the title and was named the tournament's most outstanding player (MOP). Her team was upset by 10th-seeded Creighton in the second round of the NCAA tournament, where Caitlin was held to a season-low 15 points and 11 assists, shooting 4-of-19 from the field, in a 64–62 loss. She was a unanimous first-team All-American: she earned first-team All-American honors from the AP and the USBWA, and was a WBCA Coaches' All-America Team selection. Caitlin became the first back-to-back recipient of the Dawn Staley Award and won the Nancy Lieberman Award as the top Division I point guard. As a sophomore, she averaged 27 points, eight rebounds and eight assists per game. Caitlin was the first women's player to lead Division I in points and assists per game in a single season. She also led Division I in total points, free throws and triple-doubles.
2022–23: Junior season
Entering her junior season, Caitlin was a unanimous selection for the AP preseason All-America team and was named Big Ten preseason player of the year by the league's coaches and media. On November 18, 2022, she suffered an ankle injury with 3.8 seconds left in an 84–83 loss to Kansas State, where she recorded 27 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. She played in Iowa's next game against Belmont on November 20, scoring 33 points in a 73–62 victory. On December 1, she scored a season-high 45 points in a 94–81 loss to NC State. Three days later, Caitlin posted her seventh career triple-double, with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 102–71 win over Wisconsin. She surpassed Samantha Logic as the Big Ten career leader in triple-doubles. On December 21, in her 75th game, Clark tied Elena Delle Donne of Delaware as the fastest Division I women's player to reach 2,000 career points since the 1999–2000 season, scoring 20 points in a 92–54 win over Dartmouth. On January 23, 2023, Clark recorded 28 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds in an 83–72 win over AP No. 2 Ohio State, who were previously unbeaten. On February 2, she had 42 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in a 96–82 victory over Maryland. On February 26, Caitlin recorded 34 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, making a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer, in an 86–85 win against AP No. 2 Indiana. At the end of the regular season, she repeated as Big Ten Player of the Year in a unanimous vote and was named first-team All-Big Ten by the league's coaches and media.
Caitlin led Iowa to its second consecutive Big Ten tournament championship, where she earned MOP honors. In the title game, she recorded 30 points, 17 assists and 10 rebounds in a 105–72 win over Ohio State, the first triple-double in the final of the tournament. She moved to second in Division I women's history behind Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon with her 10th career triple-double. In the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament, she recorded 41 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in a 97–83 win over Louisville. She became the first player in men's or women's tournament history to record a 30 or 40-point triple-double. During the game, Caitlin became the first Division I player to record at least 900 points and 300 assists in a single season. For her performance, Caitlinwas named the Seattle 4 Regional Most Outstanding Player and to the regional all-tournament team as Iowa reached its first Final Four since 1993. In the Final Four, she posted 41 points, eight assists, and six rebounds in a 77–73 upset win over undefeated defending champion South Carolina, ending their 42-game winning streak. She broke the single-game scoring record for the women's tournament semifinals and became the first player in tournament history with consecutive 40-point games. Caitlin also surpassed the program and Big Ten single-season scoring records held by Megan Gustafson. With the win, Iowa advanced to their first women's basketball championship game in program history. Though Caitlin had 30 points and eight assists against LSU in the national championship, Iowa lost the game, 102–85. She made eight three-pointers, the most by a men's or women's player in the title game. Near the end of the game, LSU star Angel Reese followed Caitlin, making a "you can't see me" gesture implying that Caitlin could not keep up with her, and also pointing to her ring finger in reference to LSU's imminent championship ring. Reese received considerable criticism for the gestures, which many in the media viewed as unsportsmanlike. However, many also defended Reese's gestures and trash talk, highlighting a double standard, as Caitlin had made the same gesture at a previous game and did not face similar criticism. Caitlin herself defended Reese over criticism about the gesture. In coverage of this incident, journalists and the public have commented on the roles of race and gender in perceptions of sportsmanship. With 191 points in the tournament, Caitlin broke the men's and women's scoring records for a single NCAA tournament. Her 60 assists were the most by a player in women's tournament history.
Caitlin won all major national player of the year awards: AP Player of the Year, the Honda Sports Award, the John R. Wooden Award, Naismith College Player of the Year, USBWA National Player of the Year and the Wade Trophy. She was the first unanimous national player of the year in Big Ten history. Caitlin won the Nancy Lieberman Award for a second time and became the first three-time winner of the Dawn Staley Award. She was a unanimous first-team All-American for a second straight season, earning first-team recognition from the AP and USBWA and making the WBCA Coaches' All-America Team. As a junior, Caitlin averaged 27.8 points, 8.6 assists and 7.1 rebounds per game, leading Division I in assists and ranking second in scoring. She set Big Ten single-season records in points, assists, three-pointers and free throws, and tied her own conference record with five triple-doubles.[104] She had the fourth-most points and assists and the third-most three-pointers in a season in Division I history. Following the season, Caitlin won the Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award and the Honda Cup, both honoring the top women's college athlete, and the James E. Sullivan Award, presented annually by the AAU to the top college or Olympic athlete in the United States. She was selected as the Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year.
2023–24: Senior season
Entering her senior season, Caitlin was named preseason Big Ten Player of the Year and earned unanimous AP preseason All-American honors. On October 15, 2023, she played in Crossover at Kinnick, a preseason exhibition game against DePaul at Kinnick Stadium, and had a triple-double of 34 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a 94–72 win. The game had an attendance of 55,646, which set the women's basketball record. In her second regular season game, on November 9, Caitlin posted 44 points, eight rebounds and six assists in an 80–76 win over AP No. 8 Virginia Tech. In Iowa's third game, a 94–53 blowout of Northern Iowa on November 12, Caitlin recorded her 12th career triple-double, with 24 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. She became Iowa's all-time leading scorer, passing Megan Gustafson, and became only the second player in Division I history with a triple-double in four different seasons, joining Ionescu. One week later, she recorded 35 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and seven steals in a 113–90 win over Drake, passing Kelsey Plum of Washington for the most 30-point games in women's Division I history.
On December 6, 2023, Caitlin became the 15th Division I player to reach 3,000 career points and was the second-fastest to reach the mark, posting 35 points, nine rebounds and five assists in a 67–58 victory over Iowa State. On December 16, she scored 38 points and made nine three-pointers in a 104–75 win over Cleveland State. Three days later, she shared Sporting News Athlete of the Year honors with Angel Reese. Later that week, Clark was announced as the runner-up to gymnast Simone Biles for the AP Female Athlete of the Year award. On December 21, in Iowa's final non-conference game, she recorded a triple-double of 35 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists in the Hawkeyes' 98–69 win over Loyola Chicago. In her next game, on December 30, Caitlin posted 35 points and 10 assists in a 94–71 victory against Minnesota, surpassing Samantha Prahalis of Ohio State to become the Big Ten's all-time leader in assists. During the game, she also eclipsed Samantha Logic's mark for the program record in the same category. On January 2, 2024, Clark scored 40 points and made a long, game-winning three-pointer as time expired in a 76–73 win over Michigan State. Three days later, she posted 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 103–69 win over Rutgers. On January 8, Caitlin was named Big Ten Player of the Week for the 24th time in her career, breaking the conference record held by Gustafson. In her following game, she registered her second consecutive triple-double, with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 96–71 victory against Purdue. On January 21, Caitlin recorded 45 points and seven assists in a 100–92 overtime loss to AP No. 18 Ohio State. After the game, as Ohio State fans were rushing the court, she was knocked down in a collision with a fan but did not suffer an injury, despite initially appearing to be in pain.
On January 31, 2024, Caitlin posted 35 points and 10 assists in a 110–74 win over Northwestern, breaking the Big Ten all-time scoring record held by Kelsey Mitchell of Ohio State. In February, Fox began devoting a camera, called the "Caitlin Cam," to record Caitlin during its broadcasts of Iowa games and to stream on TikTok. She became the sixth Division I women's player with 1,000 career assists during the Hawkeyes' 82–79 loss at Nebraska on February 11, where she tallied 31 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. On February 15, Clark became the NCAA Division I women's career scoring leader, surpassing Kelsey Plum, during a 106–89 win over Michigan. She finished the game with a career-high 49 points, 13 assists and five rebounds, eclipsing Gustafson for the program single-game scoring record.[138] Between her points and assists, Clark was responsible for 79 of her team's points, the most by any Division I women's player in at least 25 seasons.[139] On February 28, Caitlin passed Lynette Woodard, who played for Kansas in the era when the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women governed women's college sports, to become the all-time leader in points among major women's college players. During the game, she posted her second straight triple-double, with 33 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, leading the Hawkeyes to a 108–60 win over Minnesota. She also set the Big Ten career record for three-pointers, surpassing Kelsey Mitchell, and the NCAA single-season record in the same category, previously held by Taylor Pierce of Idaho. In her final regular season game, on March 3, Caitlin became the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer among men's or women's players, eclipsing Pete Maravich, who had set the men's scoring record in three seasons with LSU. She tallied 35 points, nine assists and six rebounds in a 93–83 win over AP No. 2 Ohio State. She finished the regular season as the unanimous Big Ten Player of the Year and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors from the league's coaches and media.
During the Hawkeyes' quarterfinal win over Penn State at the 2024 Big Ten tournament, Caitlin surpassed Stephen Curry of Davidson and Darius McGhee of Liberty for the most three-pointers in a single season by any Division I player regardless of gender. In a semifinal win over Michigan, she became the first Division I women's player to score at least 1,000 points in two different seasons and passed Mitchell as the career leading scorer in the Big Ten tournament. Caitlin led Iowa to its third straight Big Ten tournament title and was named MOP after recording 34 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds in a 94–89 overtime win over Nebraska in the final. In the second round of the NCAA tournament, Caitlin scored 32 points and surpassed Kelsey Plum for the most points in a single season in Division I women's history, leading Iowa to a 64–54 win over West Virginia. The Elite Eight saw a rematch of the 2023 national championship game against LSU, where Clark had 41 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds in a 94–87 victory, leading the Hawkeyes to their second straight Final Four and a school-record 33 wins and being named Albany 2 Regional MOP. Her nine three-pointers tied the most by a player in an NCAA tournament game. She surpassed Taylor Robertson's record of 537, set in five seasons at Oklahoma, to become the all-time Division I leader in three-pointers. Clark also broke NCAA tournament career marks in assists and three-pointers, held by Temeka Johnson of LSU and Diana Taurasi of UConn, respectively.[ In the Final Four, she posted 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in a 71–69 win over UConn, as Iowa reached the national championship game for a second consecutive season. Clark had 30 points, eight rebounds and five assists in an 87–75 loss to South Carolina, the number one overall seed, in the title game. She scored 18 points in the first quarter, the most by a player in a single period in championship game history. She also surpassed Chamique Holdsclaw of Tennessee for the NCAA tournament career scoring record.
Caitlin was named national player of the year for her second straight season, receiving AP Player of the Year, the Honda Sports Award, the John R. Wooden Award, Naismith College Player of the Year, USBWA National Player of the Year and the Wade Trophy. For a third time, she won the Nancy Lieberman Award as the top Division I point guard and was named a unanimous first-team All-American. In her senior season, Clark averaged 31.6 points, 8.9 assists and 7.4 rebounds per game, leading Division I in scoring and assists.[154] She finished with the highest career scoring average (28.42) in Division I history, passing Patricia Hoskins of Mississippi Valley State. Caitlin left Iowa with the most career points (3,951) and three-pointers (548), the second-most triple-doubles (17) and the third-most assists (1,144) in Division I history. Following the season, it was announced that Iowa would retire her jersey number 22, making her the third player in program history to receive the honor. For a second straight season, Caitlin won the Honda Cup and the James E. Sullivan Award, becoming the first two-time winner in the Sullivan Award's 94-year history. She also became the third athlete to repeat as Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year.
On February 29, 2024, Caitlin announced that she would declare for the 2024 WNBA draft, forgoing her fifth season of eligibility, which was granted to all players during the 2020–21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She was projected to be the first overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft by many publications, including ESPN, USA Today and CBS Sports.