With 20.2 seconds remaining in Sunday’s national championship game, Caitlin Clark walked off the floor for the final time in an Iowa jersey. When the final buzzer sounded a short time later, it simultaneously pronounced South Carolina as champions and signaled the end of Clark’s historic collegiate career.
Clark departs as the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I history, men or women, with 3,951 points. She also boasts the women’s single-season scoring record (1,234 points), and has more career points in the NCAA Tournament (392) than any other woman. Furthermore, she’s one of 10 women with multiple Naismith Player of the Year awards.
There was much debate throughout the tournament, and particularly over Final Four weekend, about whether Clark needed a championship to join the GOAT conversation for women’s college basketball. The general consensus was yes, and Clark and the Hawkeyes fell short again in Cleveland.
But even without a title, there’s no question Clark has taken the women’s game to a new level. Following Sunday’s trophy presentation, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley took the microphone to thank Clark for her contributions to the sport — a gesture that went far beyond the usual…
