Kristin Meyer had no thought she was about to educate basketball’s subsequent massive factor when she utilized for the ladies head teaching job at Dowling Catholic in 2016. Folks across the program shortly knowledgeable her of a rising eighth grader simply down the road in West Des Moines, IA that was already constructing a burgeoning nationwide popularity earlier than she performed a second of highschool ball. It didn’t take Meyer lengthy to determine what all of the hype was about.
Meyer’s telephone rang shortly after accepting the place. On the opposite finish was an assistant coach for a top-10 faculty program inquiring about her incoming freshman. Meyer nonetheless hadn’t seen a lot of the participant to that time, so she requested a easy query: simply how good is Caitlin Clark actually purported to be?
The school coach stated she may begin for his or her staff proper now as a 14-year-old.
Clark joined her new highschool teammates for the primary time throughout a preseason camp at Creighton. She shortly threw a three-quarters court docket bounce move in transition for a layup, then she whipped a behind-the-back dime to a teammate for an additional rating.
“Two unimaginable passes,” Meyer stated. “Even when a school participant made them, it might have stood out. That’s after I realized what she may do with the basketball.”
The whole nation now is aware of what Clark can do with the basketball as she’s blossomed into one of many greatest stars within the sport. As a freshman with the Iowa Hawkeyes, all Clark did was lead the nation in scoring (26.6 factors per sport) and end third in assists (seven per sport). She improved each numbers and completed first in each classes this season as a sophomore. Whereas she did it, Iowa captured a Huge Ten common season title and convention match championship in the identical season for the primary time in program historical past.
Clark’s outrageous numbers and rising checklist of accomplishments speaks for itself, but it surely’s not the explanation she’s develop into such a sensation this yr. There’s visceral thrill to watching the 6-foot level guard unleash her lethal scoring package deal, with deep pull-ups, stepbacks, and brand threes all turning into an everyday a part of her sport. The sheer audacity of a few of her photographs is barely topped by the surprise if seeing them swish by means of the online so typically.
“They’ve to protect me after I cross halfcourt now,” Clark advised SB Nation. “Folks have guarded me tighter and tougher this yr. These are the kinds of photographs I observe on a regular basis in observe or after I come into the fitness center. With the ability to stretch the ground extra has solely made it simpler for my teammates.”
That Clark may also be the nation’s greatest playmaker places opposing defenses in an not possible bind. Her greatest highlights from this season have been shared hundreds of thousands of occasions. Kevin Durant has talked about her on his podcast, LeBron James posted about her on his Instagram, and Sue Chook referred to as her the “most fun participant in faculty basketball proper now.” At this level, Clark has a star high quality that solely the largest names can match, however she isn’t happy with viral clips and public reward.
Clark has “Last 4” written in her locker — a spherical Iowa has reached solely as soon as and never since 1993.
“I’m not afraid to say my objectives,” Clark stated.
With a No. 2 seed within the 2022 girls’s NCAA match, Clark has the Hawkeyes on the cusp of one thing particular. As a lifelong Iowan, she wouldn’t have it some other means.
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Clark’s most defining high quality is her ferocious aggressive spirit. It was honed enjoying sports activities towards her brothers and male cousins across the household’s dwelling in West Des Moines.
“I bought picked on, I bought pushed round loads, however I grew up enjoying with the boys and towards the boys,” Clark stated. “I believe that helped me develop into larger, stronger, quicker, and form of develop talent at a unique stage.”
Clark’s first organized basketball staff was an all-boys league that she reportedly dominated. Being the one woman on the ground didn’t appear unusual to her on the time, but it surely did mark the start of 1 trait that has caught along with her to this present day: She hated to lose.
“I’d cry after we didn’t win,” Clark stated. “I beloved to compete even from a younger age.”
Clark spent her early years dreaming of enjoying for Dowling Catholic, the place her grandpa was the pinnacle soccer coach, her brother was the beginning quarterback on a state championship staff, and her feminine cousins starred in basketball. By the point she was in eighth grade, she was already scrimmaging towards the highschool varsity staff and incomes nationwide recognition enjoying for All-Iowa Assault on the grassroots circuit.
When she lastly bought to Dowling, it was instantly evident this might be her staff.
“She’s the kind of participant who’s drawn to the ball and the ball is drawn to her,” Meyer stated. “Every little thing flows higher when the ball is in her palms. Even when we advised her to play one other place, she would nonetheless discover a technique to management the ball.”
Clark was a standout from the second she took the ground, averaging 15 factors per sport as a full-time starter. When the yr was over, she tried out for the 2017 USA U16 Nationwide Group regardless of being one of many youngest gamers on the camp. She made the staff and flew to Argentina to assist win a gold medal. Clark got here again to Dowling as a extra assured and explosive scorer. Once more, she tried out for USA Basketball after the season in an older age group, this time with the U17 squad. She didn’t make it. For the primary time in her life, Clark was advised she wasn’t adequate.
“I noticed the largest progress in her sport earlier than his sophomore and junior years,” Meyer stated. “She was at all times the very best athlete in no matter sport she did, going to the USA trials and never making the staff was form of the primary case of listening to ‘there’s folks higher than you.’ That gave her an additional drive and motivation that she wanted to take that subsequent step.”
As Clark got here again for her junior season, she was basically unguardable. Her scoring common jumped to 32 factors per sport, and she or he began incorporating extra stepback jumpers into her arsenal. She dropped 60 factors in a sport towards Mason Metropolis the place she shot 13-of-17 from three-point vary. Dowling gained, 90-78, and wanted each one among Clark’s photographs to maintain them alive.
Clark needed to make her faculty dedication forward of her senior season. She was a part of a loaded nationwide recruiting class that additionally featured Paige Bueckers (UConn), Cameron Brink (Stanford), and Hailey Van Lith (Louisville), all gamers who’ve come to form girls’s basketball since coming into faculty. Clark may have performed wherever within the nation, however she shortly realized an important factor to her was staying near dwelling.
“I needed to have my household there,” Clark stated of her determination to select the Hawkeyes. “I needed them to have the ability to come to my video games. After visiting locations throughout the nation, I believe that’s form of what’s essential to me. I needed to be near dwelling.”
Iowa basketball was already on the rise due to the legendary profession of Megan Gustafson, the 2019 Naismith Trophy winner who powered an Elite Eight run as a senior. With Clark, Iowa had a unique sort of celebrity, and one which had them dreaming even larger.
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Clark made her debut at Iowa by dropping 27 factors in 26 minutes in a win over Northern Iowa. She adopted that up with 30 factors and 13 assists in a win over Drake within the subsequent sport. After a win over Wisconsin, Iowa confronted Iowa State. Clark completed with 34 factors, seven rebounds, and 6 assists in one other Hawkeyes victory.
The blistering begin to her faculty profession set the muse for an unimaginable freshman season. Iowa needed to change 4 starters from the earlier season round junior massive Monika Czinano, however they all of the sudden had an emergent level guard who might be the middle of their universe. The Hawkeyes went 20-10 document and earned a No. 5 seed within the NCAA match.
When Iowa confronted No. 4 seed Kentucky within the second spherical, Clark had extra factors than the Wildcats by herself on the half earlier than ending the sport with 35. That arrange a matchup with UConn and Bueckers. The Hawkeyes have been crushed by 20 factors and Clark had one among her hardest capturing nights of the season, going 7-of-21 from the sector towards a Huskies staff that was throwing a number of defenders at her many of the sport.
Regardless of the bummer ending, Clark nonetheless completed the season main the nation in whole assists (214), area objectives made (266), whole factors (799), three-pointers tried (286), and three-pointers made (116). It might be onerous for anybody to high these numbers the following yr, however in some way Clark has develop into much more of a phenomenon as a sophomore.
Iowa started this yr at No. 9 within the preseason polls. Clark began her sophomore season with two triple-doubles within the first six video games, first towards low-major Southern after which vs. Huge Ten rival Michigan State. As Iowa welcomed Evansville for his or her tenth sport of the season, Clark was the precipice of scoring 1,000 profession factors faster than any participant in faculty basketball historical past aside from Elena Delle Donne.
She hit the milestone within the first half, then she stored on scoring. By the top of the evening she had 44 factors and eight assists, and solely want two made three-pointers to do it. That sport appeared to jumpstart Clark’s season, as a result of from that time on she was unstoppable.
She scored 30 or extra factors in 4 of her subsequent 5 video games, ending with double-digit assists thrice within the stretch. Clark capped her great January with one other ridiculous scoring outburst towards Ohio State, this time ending with 43 factors and punctuating her efficiency with the hallowed `Jordan Shrug.`
For the month, Clark averaged 30.4 factors, 7.7 rebounds and 9.1 assists per sport.
After posting one other triple-double towards Wisconsin in her subsequent sport, Clark placed on the efficiency that elevated her star to the stratosphere. With a roster restricted to only seven obtainable gamers towards conference-leading Michigan, Iowa fell right into a 12-point deficit at halftime. Clark erupted within the second half, pulling out brand threes, stepbacks towards a number of defenders, and artful scoring strikes contained in the arc.
Iowa nonetheless misplaced the sport, however Clark awakened as probably the most talked about participant in faculty basketball the following morning. Highlights from her 46-point and 10-assist efficiency absolutely went viral. This video has 2.6 million views.
Iowa has performed 9 video games since that loss to Michigan, and so they’ve gained eight of them. That span contains their championship run on the Huge Ten match, which featured a 41-point Clark masterpiece towards Nebraska within the semifinals. Clark went chilly within the title sport towards Indiana, however her teammates picked her up: her frontcourt co-star Czinano completed with 30 factors, teammate Kate Martin had 14 factors, and the Hawkeyes gained the convention match for less than the second time since Clark was born in 2002.
Clark’s sophomore season has include one other profit past sudden improve in fame: she’s truly capable of make some cash off her expertise now. The NIL guidelines have been profitable to Clark, who has a pair high-profile endorsements. She partnered with grocery retailer Hy-Vee for a sponsorship deal, after which was picked as one among two gamers (together with South Carolina guard Zia Cooke) to be the face of H&R Block’s pledge to donate $1 million to feminine faculty athletes throughout the nation.
“Everybody most likely is aware of in regards to the weight room state of affairs and the whole lot that occurred on the match final yr,” Clark stated. “Giving again to feminine faculty athletics is one thing we actually want. With the ability to use my voice and my platform was a brilliant simple sure for me.”
Clark can be a high decide within the WNBA draft right this moment if she was allowed to enter, however league guidelines dictate that American faculty gamers should graduate earlier than they’re eligible. As rookie contract salaries within the WNBA stay low, it’s doable Clark is making extra off endorsements in faculty with the NIL than she can be underneath a WNBA contract.
Clark already profiles because the form of ‘heliocentric’ star scouts and executives dream about. She is legitimately an offensive system unto herself (the Hawkeyes had the second highest scoring offense in DI this yr). Clark is masterful within the pick-and-roll as a result of it’s almost not possible to protect towards her elite passing and elite scoring. She’s extremely good at deceleration, slowing down throughout a full dash, retaining her defender on her hip, and discovering a passing angle or house for her floater. The footwork that units up all these pull-up threes feels prefer it’s extra superior than anybody within the nation. Surrounded by a talented inside scorer in Czinano, two good three-pointer shooters in McKenna Warnock and Gabbie Marshall, and a high quality defender in Kate Martin, Clark is completely set as much as have the Hawkeyes revolve round her singular skills.
Clark’s particular person accolades are plain. She’s already had achieved staff success at a excessive stage with three gold medals with USA Basketball and the Hawkeyes’ twin convention title banners this season. However she needs extra. The Hawkeyes are rolling coming into the NCAA match, but discover themselves because the No. 2 seed in the identical area as No. 1 general seed South Carolina. If each groups are nonetheless standing, there’s going to be a traditional Elite Eight matchup on deck.
The story writes itself: native celebrity chooses her state college over extra established powers, and elevates them to the very best phases within the sport. Clark has the entire plot factors for a smash hit. She simply wants to put in writing the ending.
