Iowa star Caitlin Clark's dubious 10th rebound of her historic 40-point triple-double was the right call, according to the NCAA rulebook

• Iowa star Caitlin Clark earned the first-ever 40-point triple-double in NCAA Tournament history.
• Fans questioned whether her final rebound should've counted toward her historic effort.
• But according to the NCAA statisticians' manual, Clark earned the triple-double fair and square.

Caitlin Clark is in a class of her own.

The Iowa superstar recorded the first-ever 40-point triple-double in the history of the NCAA Tournament — on both the men's and women's side — to lead her Hawkeyes to their first Final Four appearance in 30 years.

Clark scored 41 points, on 57.9% shooting from the field and 8-of-14 from beyond the arc, to lead all scorers in Iowa's 97-83 Elite Eight win over the Louisville Cardinals. She added 12 assists in the historic effort, giving her a hand in 70 of the Hawkeyes' points on the night — the most from a single player in an NCAA Tournament game since the turn of the century, per ESPN Stats & Info — which comes out to 72.2% of their total team offense.

While the 6-foot point guard undoubtedly put on a masterclass in Seattle Sunday night, some fans were skeptical that she'd truly earned the stat line she recorded. Clark's 10th and final rebound — which helped her secure the triple-double with just over a minute remaining in the contest — was dubious enough that Clark herself, the entire crowd at Climate Pledge Arena, and most fans watching from home were unaware it had actually happened.

With her team trailing by 13, Louisville star Hailey Van Lith stormed through the paint and attempted a layup that ricocheted off the glass. Flanked by a pair of Cardinals, Clark jumped up and tapped the ball out towards the free throw line, where teammate McKenna Warnock grabbed the ball on the run and dribbled out of traffic.

Because the play didn't feature a traditional rebound in which Clark came away with clear possession of the ball, some viewers accused the game's statisticians of helping the junior out. But Clark's tap-out absolutely deserved to count as a rebound, according to the NCAA's 2022-23 Basketball Statisticians' Manual.

Yeah, that's a real thing. And, yeah, we found it.

Under "Section 3 — Rebounds," the manual's authors suggest that a player can earn an "individual rebound" in any of the following ways:

1. By gaining control of the ball.
2. By tipping or batting the ball in an attempt to score a goal.
3. By tipping or batting the ball to a teammate so that the teammate or another teammate is the first to gain control.
4. By retrieving a rebound simultaneously with an opposing player and having his or her own team be the first to be entitled to the ball.
5. By blocking an opponent's shot and purposely batting the ball to a teammate who is the first to gain control."

No. 3 — "tipping or batting the ball to a teammate" — fits the bill when it comes to Clark, making rebound No. 10, and her entire triple-double, completely legitimate.

Clark and her Iowa teammates will head to Dallas this week for the Final Four. They'll face the winner of Monday night's matchup between top-seeded South Carolina and the No. 2 Maryland Terrapins on Friday with a trip to the national title game on the line.