How Caitlin Clark Transformed Women’s Basketball

Written by: Tex Greene

55,646

That’s the number of people who went to Kinnick Stadium, the arena for the University of Iowa’s football team. Except, people weren’t there to see football. 

Everyone was there to watch a women’s basketball game. 

Nebraska’s volleyball team set an attendance record for any sport just a few months ago, with 92,003 fans attending their game. However, the 55,646 people was the most for a women’s college basketball game. The sport is on the rise, and Iowa’s star player, Caitlin Clark is at the forefront of women’s basketball.

If you asked basketball fans a few years ago if they watched women’s college basketball or WNBA games, the overwhelming response would be no. The reason why? The women’s game didn’t feature flashy highlights, dunks, or athleticism. It was boring. Yet, in the same way Steph Curry captivated an entire generation not by his athleticism but with his lights-out shooting and dribbling, Clark inspires the next generation of female hoopers. She stands only six feet tall, but looms larger than life over her opponents. Her NIL value during April of 2023 was just over six figures, around $192,000. After March Madness, it was well over $700,000; almost one for every Instagram follower she currently has.

So how did she do it?

Clark grew up in a large household with two brothers. The eldest of the siblings, Blake, would go on to play college football for Iowa State University, so it’s clear sports was in the family’s DNA. Additionally, Caitlin’s dad played college basketball at Simpson’s college, a cousin of her’s played at Creighton, and two uncles in the family played college basketball and football.

Caitlin tried to keep up with her brothers, and like most younger siblings, this gave her a huge advantage over her peers. Additionally, it developed a deep sense of competitiveness that still hasn’t left her to this day. Her first time ever playing basketball was in a boy’s YMCA rec league (there were no girls’ leagues in the mid-2000s), and her dad wasn’t training her to be a prodigy: he just wanted her to have fun. Clark, however, did more than just have fun, as she barely missed in that first game. In 2nd grade, she dominated so much in a boy’s state AAU tournament that other parents protested, claiming girls shouldn’t be allowed on boy’s teams because they were too good. 

Basketball wasn’t Clark’s only sport; she played volleyball and soccer among others. But, basketball was without a doubt the sport she excelled at the most. At the beginning of 6th grade, Clark joined the All-Iowa Attack AAU team, one of the best in the state of Iowa. She was already one of the best prospects in her age range, and she quickly found herself playing up many years. Not only did she draw the attention of her local high school coaches (an eighth grader playing against high school seniors was extremely impressive), but she drew attention from college coaches as well. It’s no surprise that at Dowling High School, Clark spent four years on varsity and already was a national sensation as a freshman. 

Kristin Meyer, who was hired as the head coach of the women’s varsity basketball team during Clark’s freshman year, was not expecting the amount of attention that came her school’s way. “I started getting calls from coaches, Division One coaches, before her freshman year of high school. And they had seen her play,” said Meyers. “They were predicting her to be top level. Some of them said that, even as a freshman in high school, they could’ve played on their D1 team. She sees the game differently than anyone I’ve ever met. The game is slower for her.”

By her sophomore year, Clark was the most sought after recruit in the entire nation. Talented as ever, Clark’s side gig was starting on the women’s varsity soccer team her freshman and sophomore year (while being named All-State!) before she quit to focus on basketball. It was only a formality for her to finish out her high school career, but she still did so in style. As a sophomore, Clark averaged 27.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2.3 steals per game, while leading her team to a 20-4 record and a deep run in the state playoffs. Her junior year, Clark led the nation in scoring with 32.6 points per game, and dropped 60 points in a game! 60! She was named Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year in both her junior and senior seasons. 

Clark committed to the University of Iowa for college, wanting to take a program to new heights and stay close to home. She didn’t hesitate to immediately make an impact on the team. Kathleen Doyle, the previous year’s Big 10 Player of the Year, had just graduated and was drafted into the WNBA, meaning there were some big shoes to fill. Thrust into the starting point guard role, Clark dropped 27 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals against Northern Iowa in his first ever college game. She didn’t stop there, as she only scored under 10 points once the entire season, and led Iowa to a 20-10 record. With averages of 27 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists, Clark not only won the Big 10 Freshman of the Year Award in 2021, but the Dawn Stanley award given to the best guard in the entire country. 

Across women’s college basketball, Clark was already a sensation; however, most of the country had yet to find out about basketball’s next big star. Clark’s freshman year was 2020-21, meaning it was still the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and fans couldn’t attend the games in-person. As restrictions loosened for her sophomore year, Clark continued her rampage across women’s basketball, and Iowa fans buckled up for the ride. 

Upping her averages to 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists, Clark went from Big 10 Freshman of the Year to Big 10 Player of the Year in 2022 as a sophomore. The team’s record improved to 24-8, but surprisingly, they were bounced out of March Madness in the second round by Creighton. It was still a successful individual year, but not enough to satisfy Clark. She made it clear her goal was to bring Iowa to heights they’d never reached before, and the second round of March Madness was not that. The loss lit a fire under Iowa’s belt, which stayed through them during the offseason and the 2022-23 season. “I think we had that fire of getting upset early from last year, I think that’ll really drive us, but you know, we really want to reach the Final Four,” said Clark. “That’s our goal. We know it takes a little luck, a good draw, a lot of hard work, but we’re going to do everything we can to get there.”

During the 2022-23 season, with COVID restrictions completely gone and a locked-in team, Iowa sold out every women’s basketball game, and the hype around Clark grew larger nationally. She averaged nearly identical stats to the previous year, but won the Naismith Player of the Year award, given to the best player in women’s college basketball. She also won the Dawn Staley award for the third year in a row, having led her team to a 31-7 record when it was all said and done. After all the fanfare of the regular season, however, it was time to avenge last year’s loss to Creighton.

The first round against Southeastern Louisiana wasn’t much of a fight, but in the next round, against Georgia, it was much closer. Georgia played stifling defense, but Iowa grinded it out and won by eight, avoiding their fate from the previous year. Against Colorado in the next round, the game was once again close, but Iowa pulled away at the end, thanks to 31 points from Clark. After that, the Madness truly began. 

Against Louisville, Clark had one of the best games of her life, with a 41 point-10 rebound-12 assist triple-double. To do that in the elite eight was absolutely crazy, as no one had ever had a 30-point triple-double in March Madness, let alone a 40-point triple-double! In what was supposed to be another close game, Iowa won by 14 points, and accomplished their goal of reaching the Final Four.

If college basketball fans and the entire country hadn’t known of Clark before, they knew of her now. Everyone had their brackets filled out, and it was time to see how far Clark and Iowa could go. As amazing as they were though, no one expected Iowa to make it to the national championship game. 

Iowa faced off against the University of South Carolina, one of women’s basketball’s biggest powerhouses. They hadn’t lost a single game the entire year (and for a good portion of the previous year), and were coached by Dawn Stanley (you know, the one who they named the award Clark won three times after). Clark was the only reason Iowa had a chance, and it showed during the game.

Thanks to South Carolina’s stifling defense, Clark and one of her teammates, Monika Czinano, accounted for 59 of Iowa’s 77 points. Everyone expected South Carolina to pull away at some point in the game, but thanks to 41 points from Clark, they hung around, and somehow survived, 77-73. They made it to the national championship, and now, if you watched basketball at all, you knew who Caitlin Clark was. She had just become the first player to ever drop back-to-back 40-point games in March Madness, and had led Iowa to their first national championship game in program history.

Unfortunately, the storybook ending didn’t continue, as LSU did overcome Clark’s 30 points in the national championship game. Still, the effect 2023’s March Madness had on women’s basketball can’t be overstated. Over 12 million people tuned in to watch the national championship: the most watched women’s basketball game of all time, college or WNBA. The level Clark had just elevated the sport to had never been done before, part of the reason why her NIL Valuation went from $192,000 to $700,000. It’s the reason she’s doing commercials with Jake from State Farm, is sponsored by Nike, and holds her own basketball camp. It’s why Steven A told Clark that he doesn’t know whether to call her the female version of Steph Curry, or to call Steph Curry the male version of her. It’s why 55,646 people filled up Kinnick Stadium to watch her play, and why the entire country will be watching to see how she one-up’s herself for her senior year.

55,646. That’s a lot of people.