Our honor of naming Caitlin Clark The Athletic’s Player of the Year is a surprise to absolutely no one.
A media outlet or organization that doesn’t crown her as the national player of the year would be committing the basketball version of heresy. Small children to grandparents and the generations in between know about Clark’s record-setting season and her penchant for shots that sometimes seem like they’re launched from the moon.
The mythology of Caitlin Clark is growing — and will become even more legendary if she carries Iowa to the national championship game once again. Her wow-factor shooting has lured in casual viewers to become not only Iowa diehards but women’s college basketball fans. Clark has been impossible to ignore, but somehow the bigger her stardom, seemingly the more under-appreciated the nuances in her game become that go beyond the razzle-dazzle.
Clark leads the nation with 32.7 points per game (a category she’s led three of her four seasons), while also ranking first with 8.7 assists per game (a category she’s led nationally the last three seasons). She’s making the most 3-pointers per game with 5.4 (a category she also led last season), but her 7 defensive rebounds per game rank her in the 95th percentile of players. Her win shares and…
