Hats off to the amazing Caitlin Clark of Iowa, nailing a "logo three" to become the new top scorer in college women's basketball history this past week.
The West Des Moines start scored Iowa's first eight points in the game to pass Kelsey Plum'sNCAA-recognized total of 3,527 points.
Clark is just 80 points shy of the career mark of Lynette Woodward (3,646) set in 1981, which pre-dates the NCAA women's era.
On top of that, she's 98 points away from "Pistol" Pete Maravich's men's college basketball record of 3,667 points, a record Maravich will retain.
Let's put that whole Maravich thing in a little more perspective.
- Clark has played four years (and has the option for a fifth COVID season, but we'll circle back around to that) while Maravich (like Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) played in an era that prevented freshmen from varsity competition. On the freshmen team, which had larger-crowds than the varsity (like Alcindor at UCLA), Maravich averaged 43.6 points.
- Once on the varsity, Maravich averaged 43.8, 44.2 and 44.5 points per season.
- Unlike Clark, Maravich didn't benefit from a three-point line.
But let's talk about that extra season. You can bet the WNBA is just drooling, waiting to get Clark on their courts -- increasing television viewship and game attendance. She's a drawing card, for sure. The question is, for her, a financial one. Can she make MORE money from college NIL (Name-Image-Likeness) or from the WNBA? If I was in charge of the pro league, I'd be working on a financial package that would include incentives from attendance and the like. Anything to get her to turn pro.
And if she comes back for a fifth college season, the NCAA needs to put an asterisk by her scoring mark. Odds are pretty good no other player will ever get that five-year bump. And, frankly, her totals won't need it.
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