It's almost July, but Caitlin Clark is still picking up awards and honors for her superlative-defying junior season. Monday night, Clark picked up one more notable award, as she was named Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and presented with the Honda Cup at the Collegiate Women Sports Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. Honda has been the presenting sponsor of the awards for the past 37 years.
The Collegiate Women Sports Awards have been honoring female collegiate athletes for almost 50 years. The Honda Cup, presented to the Athlete of the Year, is voted on by a national panel of more than 1000 college athletic directors. Clark is the first Iowa player to receive the award.
The award is another reminder that Clark's 2022-23 campaign was truly remarkable. Clark, a junior from West Des Moines, Iowa, averaged 27.8 points per game, third-best in D-I, and she led the nation in assists per game (8.6) and three-pointers made per game (3.5).
She became the first player in Division I women's basketball history to finish with more than 1,000 points and 300 assists in a single season. She became the fastest Division I player (men's or women's) in the last 20 years to score 1,5000 career points.
Clark was at her best when the lights were brightest and the stage was biggest. She led Iowa to its first-ever NCAA Championship Game appearance and broke NCAA Tournament records for most three-pointers made in a single tournament (24) and most points scored (191). She also recorded the first 40-point triple-double in the history of the NCAA Men's or Women's Tournaments.
Clark can add the Honda Cup to her list of honors from the past season, which includes the Wooden Award, the Naismith Award, and the AP Player of the Year award. She also won the Wade Trophy and the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Player of the Year award, and became a three-time winner of the Dawn Staley Award and a two-time winner of the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard award.
Congratulations to Clark on another richly-deserved honor.
