Why March Madness is all about Caitlin Clark

The most exciting player in college basketball, explained.

For the uninitiated, college basketball may seem like a complicated sport. Nearly every second is packed with plays, screens, cuts, and defenses that can be hard to follow. Commentators spray you with names and phrases that you’re supposed to already know. (Izzo? Geno? The 1-3-1? Pac-12?) And let’s not even get started on advanced metrics, unless you can explain usage rate.

But if you’ve ever wanted to see basketball beautifully simplified — as clean as putting a ball through the hoop — all you need to do is watch Caitlin Clark, the 22-year-old superstar making headlines with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

In both the men’s and women’s college game, there has never been a more prolific scorer than Clark, no shooter as flashy. She’s the record-breaking scoring leader among all Division I college basketball players in NCAA history, smashing “Pistol Pete” Maravich’s more than 50-year-old record this season. Clark’s gaudy numbers and the manner in which she scores — pulling up from anywhere in the gym, no matter how distant from the basket — have brought mainstream attention to women’s college basketball, a sport historically eclipsed by its men’s counterpart.

Her impact is being called the Caitlin Clark Effect. The Hawkeyes sold out their season tickets for their entire home schedule for the first time in school history, and Iowa’s road games have set attendance bests for opposing schools. Tickets for Iowa’s first two March Madness games, which begin on Saturday, sold out in 30 minutes. Earlier this month, her game against Ohio State — in which she broke Maravich’s aforementioned record — was watched by nearly 4 million TV viewers, the highest for a regular-season women’s basketball game (i.e., no championships involved) since 1999.

Clark is the exception among her exceptional peers, and it isn’t just because of her incredible long-range shot. It’s that she knows what makes basketball exciting. She sees the spotlight and the pressure, the wins and the heartbreaks as a privilege, and she has embraced being both a hero and a villain. That’s what allows her to be the most thrilling player in college basketball.

How Caitlin Clark changed women’s basketball

Over the past four years, Caitlin Clark has scored 3,771 points — the most for a player of any gender in Division I college basketball. That list includes male Hall of Famers like Maravich and Larry Bird as well as Brittney Griner, Maya Moore, Elena Delle Donne, and Chamique Holdsclaw, some of the best women’s players of all time.

Beginning her freshman season in 2020, Clark averaged 26.6 points per game and has upped that number each year to reach her current 31.9 as a senior. That stunning stat goes along with 8.9 assists per game and 7.3 rebounds. She’s currently shooting nearly 50 percent from the field, 38 percent from three, and 86 percent from the free throw line.

Those numbers are stellar, but basketball is a team sport, and Clark’s play elevates the Hawkeyes as a whole.

Clark is a scoring point guard. That means she touches the ball virtually every single time Iowa comes down the court on offense. Whether it’s shooting or setting up her teammates, getting points on the board is her responsibility. Opposing teams know this and go into each contest with the goal of shutting her down, playing Clark with lots of physicality and throwing double and even triple teams at her.

Yet all season, she’s been scoring at a high clip and doing so with efficiency. Her gravitational pull has also freed up her teammates: When opponents double-team Clark, it leaves at least one of her fellow Hawkeyes open, allowing them more space for cuts to the basket.

Clark’s offense has changed the Iowa program, bringing the team close to an NCAA championship.

Three years ago, during her freshman season, Clark and the Hawkeyes overachieved to make the NCAA Sweet 16 as a No. 5 seed, upsetting Kentucky before losing to UConn. Two years ago, Clark helped Iowa win the Big 10 tournament and clinch a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Last year, she made program history and brought Iowa to the national championship game, beating the overall favorite South Carolina before losing in the final game to LSU. After a remarkable 2023–2024 season and another Big 10 tournament win, Iowa’s women’s team got a No. 1 seed for March Madness — just the third time in program history — and is ranked second overall.

Taking the Hawkeyes to the national championship last year and getting them poised for another deep tourney run is an especially remarkable achievement when you consider the composition of the Iowa squad.

Clark’s teammates weren’t highly ranked All-Americans in high school, the primary evaluation of how good an incoming college player is compared to her cohort. While ESPN ranked Clark herself fourth in the 2020 class, her next-best teammate, Hannah Stuelke, was ranked 45 coming out of high school and averaged 6.5 points per game in the 2022–2023 season. Clark is the only five-star recruit on Iowa’s roster.

By comparison, South Carolina, the top-ranked team heading into the tournament, is littered with highly rated players. Sophomore Raven Johnson was ranked second and named the Women’s Basketball Coach’s Association high school player of the year going into college. There’s also senior Kamilla Cardoso, who was ranked fifth on recruiting lists and was later named Freshman of the Year in her conference. There are many other stars, including Te-Hina Paopao, Bree Hall, and Milaysia Fulwiley.

To be clear, Clark isn’t a perfect player. Her defense is improving, but she and Iowa would much prefer to outscore their opponents than lock them down defensively. Iowa gives up around 72 points per game to its opponents, while teams like South Carolina, UConn, and Texas don’t let their rivals hit 60. Plus, coach Lisa Bluder’s failure to find Clark a blue-chip teammate or two throughout her college career is probably the reason why Iowa didn’t win the championship last year and still isn’t the favorite to win this year.

But Clark is special because her massive offensive talent makes her team better and allows Iowa to compete with more talented rosters. As Iowa has shown us this year and last, anything can happen with her on the floor.

Caitlin Clark isn’t afraid to be a star (or a villain)

Clark makes you feel like you’re watching magic. That’s why so many people, even some women’s basketball naysayers, are so interested.

Women’s basketball is often negatively compared to the men’s game. With the rim at the same height regardless of gender, men can make more athletic plays (dunks, putbacks, alley-oops) closer to the basket due to their height and strength. In the paint and on fast breaks, women’s basketball isn’t going to look as glitzy as the men’s. But physical advantages don’t have a bearing on shooting and court vision, and that’s where Clark excels.

Clark regularly pulls up from beyond the 3-point line, sometimes even a step or two over half court (the vaunted “logo” three), and sinks them. The farther she shoots from, the more spectacular the basket. Her shooting range has inspired the next generation of women’s basketball players, and helped her ink lucrative NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals with brands like Nike, Gatorade, and State Farm. Clark and Iowa, as the Wall Street Journal discussed, have been part of the most-watched women’s basketball games on six different networks.

Her countless fans also include Steph Curry, arguably the best men’s shooter of all time. “When you watch them play, she just adds the element of surprise that you can’t really game-plan for,” Curry told ESPN last March.

In a sport where women are told they can’t do the things men do, Clark defies expectations. Not that many men’s college basketball stars shoot from where Clark does and with her confidence.

That belief in herself adds to the spectacle of her games. Like other greats before her, Clark is unafraid to be both the hometown hero and the visiting villain. She’s extremely fun to cheer on, especially if you’re an Iowa fan; she’s also extremely fun to root against and beat if you’re not.

Last year during the NCAA tournament, Clark employed John Cena’s “You can’t see me” gesture in a win over Louisville. Clark tallied a triple double — 41 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds — and sank eight 3-pointers, suggesting that Louisville, in fact, did not see her. In her Final Four win against South Carolina, Clark waved off an opposing player, daring them to shoot. Said player didn’t shoot.

That clip went viral, with some fans calling the play disrespectful (positive and funny) and others calling it disrespectful (negative and unfunny). In the championship game, LSU returned the favor by sinking 64 percent of its 3s. Angel Reese, the LSU star who goes by the nickname “Bayou Barbie,” gave Clark some of her own medicine and taunted her as the game came to a close. Clark had nothing but compliments for Reese and LSU after the game.

Clark and Iowa’s NCAA tournament bracket isn’t easy this year, as Kansas State — a team that beat them in the regular season — looms as a potential Sweet 16 matchup. Defending champion LSU and a resurgent UCLA team are also in Clark’s region.

Whether Clark finishes the season with a loss or a national championship, it’ll be her last one as a college player. She announced that she’ll move onto the WNBA despite having one year of eligibility left for college ball. Experts have already weighed in on how valuable she’ll be as a pro. If she continues on her current trajectory, barring injury, she’ll likely challenge for a WNBA championship and Olympic gold. Her professional career hasn’t even begun, and there’s still so much to be written.

Caitlin Clark’s next game: Iowa vs. Holy Cross at 3:00 pm on March 23, 2024