Caitlin Clark deserves NPOY

Let me preface all of this by saying Aliyah Boston is a great basketball player and there is a reason why she was a finalist for the Naismith National Player of the Year award.

Everyone pretty much knew going into today that Boston was going to win the award. The writing has been on the wall for much of the season, as ESPN writers didn’t even give Caitlin Clark a shot past the halfway point of the season.

Boston’s 27 double-doubles in a row in SEC play is a special achievement. Her recent 28 pts and 22 rebound performance in the NCAA Tournament is worth noting as well. However, great post players come along pretty often. Iowa’s own Megan Gustafson had a similar year back in 2019 when she recorded 33 double-doubles and won the award. Boston is an incredible player, but…

She is just not the best player in women’s college basketball.

She is not the player that is revolutionizing and transcending women’s basketball.

Caitlin Clark is both of those and it was glossed over to reward the best player on the best team in the nation. That is wrong.

Coach Lisa Bluder laid out her argument after they beat Michigan saying, “No doubt that she is (player of the year). There’s a lot of great players around America, no doubt. I’m sure their coaches feel just as strongly about them as I do about Caitlin, but Caitlin is in a situation where she has the ball in her hands all the time.”

“You don’t see anybody else in the country shooting logo threes, triple teamed. That’s all I’ve got to say,” said Gabbie Marshall.

While her logo threes are the highlights that make their way across social media, there is so much more to the Big Ten Player of the Year’s game, as Hawkeye fans know very well. Clark is the first D1 women’s basketball player to lead the nation in points per game (27.0) and assists per game (8.0). Her 257 assists leads the nation and is eight more than anyone else in the nation, while playing three games less than the players in second and third.

She recorded 10+ assists in 12 games, including tying a Big Ten record for most assists against a Big Ten opponent with 18 assists against Penn State. She also tied Trae Young’s DI record for most consecutive games of 15+ points and 5+ assists, with 22 such games in a row this season.

“When you have the ball in your hands all the time, you can make an impact on the game, but you can also mess it up,” said Bluder. “There is a lot of responsibility with that, and she has a direct effect on the game when she is out there.”

Her 553 assists + FG led the nation, while she also led the nation in total points (863) and free throws made (200). Her five triple-doubles leads the nation, while she posted back-to-back 30+ point triple-doubles against Nebraska and Minnesota. That put her on a list with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, James Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Russell Westbrook and Luka Doncic as the only NBA, WNBA and DI Men’s/Women’s players to complete the feat since 2000. Caitlin also recorded 17 double-doubles in 32 games played.

Clark scored 20+ points in 23 games and led the nation in 30+ point scoring games with 11. She reached 1,500 career points in just 56 games, which is the fastest in Men’s and Women’s DI basketball over the last 20 seasons. She also broke the women’s basketball single-game scoring records at three arenas this season, including Carver-Hawkeye Arena (44), Pinnacle Bank Arena (39) and the Crisler Center (46).

As a guard, Caitlin was still very effective as a rebounder. She grabbed 10+ rebounds in ten games and ranked 20th in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (7.6). Her 8.0 total rebounds per game is just 4.2 less than Aliyah Boston, who is known for her rebounding.

Caitlin’s impact is not limited to just on the court. Her impact is felt off the court and throughout women’s basketball. Kevin Durant has long been a fan of Clark’s game and headlines the list of high-profile names to talk about her game. NBA stars Ja Morant, Trae Young and LeBron James have all mentioned Caitlin on social media this season.

What does this have to do with the player of the year award? For a long time, women’s basketball has discredited by many due the lack of excitement. No upsets, no dunking and apparently that means no fun. Caitlin Clark is bringing excitement to women’s basketball with her logo three pointers, her passing through tight windows and her energy she brings to the court, whether that means a Jordan shrug or some trash talk here and there.

When NBA players are tweeting about Caitlin’s game, that catches the attention of people that probably weren’t previously watching women’s basketball. They tune into an Iowa game to watch Caitlin and they notice that women’s basketball isn’t the boring product they were led to believe it was.

“People come a lot of times for Caitlin's name, and they stay because we're so fun to watch as a collective unit,” says Monika Czinano. “I think we're a fun team to watch. I think people are picking up on that and I think it's drawing more eyes to the sport.”

The proof is in the numbers. Carver-Hawkeye Arena was sold out for the final three home games of the women’s season, which is more than the two that the men’s team had all year. Three Iowa games landed on the Big Ten Network’s all-time most watched regular season women’s basketball games list, while the Iowa/Nebraska Big Ten Tournament semifinal was the most watched women’s basketball game in BTN history. Iowa was upset in the NCAA Tournament by Creighton, but the game was on ABC and garnered 993,000 viewers.

Lastly, Caitlin Clark is helping to inspire an entire generation of young girls through her play on the court. Girls from as young as four years old, into high school line up before and after every game to get a chance to talk to Caitlin, while also grabbing a picture or an autograph.

While some would argue that the off the court stuff shouldn’t be used when selecting a player of the year, it is hard to ignore the impact that Caitlin Clark is making. On the court, she is putting up impressive stat after impressive stat, while doing things that have never been done in women’s basketball. Her on the court impact is leading to more eyes on Iowa basketball and women’s basketball in general, while it is helping to inspire young girls in Iowa and across the country.

But that’s alright. Caitlin has two more years left in Iowa City and she is bound win the National Player of the Year award eventually, right? People will keep showing up to Carver and logo threes will continue to fall.

“I’m not going to make excuses for how I played,” said Clark after their loss to Creighton in the NCAA Tournament. “Coming back and working harder than I ever have is all I can do,”

Watch out next season.