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Caitlin Clark was a famous person from the second she stepped on the court docket for the Iowa Hawkeyes. A consensus top-five recruit from close by West Des Moines, Clark determined to play for her state faculty slightly than a typical faculty basketball blueblood. All Clark did as a freshman was lay out a convincing case that she was instantly the most effective participant in America: she led the nation in complete factors and assists, she hit extra threes than anybody in America and did it at higher than a 40 % from three, and he or she shared the freshman of the 12 months awards with UConn phenom Paige Bueckers.
For as spectacular as Clark’s freshman 12 months was, she’s in some way taken her recreation up one other degree as a sophomore.
Clark began her second season by crossing the 1,000 level mark for profession within the second fewest video games in NCAA historical past — solely behind one-time WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne at Delaware. Then she turned the first player in college basketball history to drop 30-point triple-doubles in consecutive video games when she lit up Nebraska and Minnesota.
Clark already had two 40-point video games on her resume this season when Iowa traveled to Ann Arbor to face No. 6 Michigan on Sunday. All she did towards the Wolverines was flip in arguably essentially the most spectacular recreation of her profession with a shot-making show so spectacular the highlights went viral.
Iowa misplaced to Michigan, 98-90, however Clark was unimaginable, ending with 46 factors and 10 assists on 14-of-29 taking pictures from the sphere 6-of-13 taking pictures from three. A few of these photographs are simply completely ridiculous.
That video has been retweeted greater than 6K instances already and has 26K likes and counting. It’s nothing new for Clark to place up video video games and highlights that will make Stephen Curry blush, however now the complete nation is beginning to catch on.
Clark had a quiet first quarter earlier than going bananas. Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico couldn’t believe what she was watching.
“I didn’t even know what the heck was happening,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico stated. “I’ve been teaching for a very long time, however that was some show. She dribbled it one time from halfcourt and shot the ball from halfcourt. It was fairly ridiculous for certain.”
Barnes Arico wasn’t mendacity: the one basketball participant at any degree to look at Clark’s manufacturing towards Michigan within the final 15 years was Kevin Durant.
Right now Caitlin Clark of @IowaWBB had 46 factors and 10 assists whereas taking part in all 40 minutes.
Within the final 15 years, the one different NBA, WNBA or Division I males’s or girls’s participant to have 45+ factors and 10+ assists whereas taking part in the complete recreation was Kevin Durant within the 2021 playoffs.
— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) February 7, 2022
The Iowa girls’s hoops Twitter account has grow to be a necessary observe this season for maintaining with the Clark present. This is without doubt one of the nice highlights of the faculty season.
So is that this.
Like, what? Breaking the complete court docket lure by herself, discovering her method again to the three-point line, and unleash a pull-up triple that hits nothing however but? This actually is Curry-like, nevertheless it should be said that Curry by no means did something like this at 20 years previous even throughout his standout faculty profession at Davidson.
The highlights of Clark’s deep taking pictures capacity are mesmerizing, however that’s only a small a part of her recreation. Clark has an extremely full ability set with the ball in her arms excellent for a ‘heliocentric’ type of play. Clark is at the moment main faculty basketball in factors per recreation and assists per recreation, and it isn’t notably shut in both class. She’s taking pictures simply 30.2 % from three this 12 months — a drop of 10 proportion factors from final season — however she’s additionally improved her free throw taking pictures to just about 90 % this 12 months. She’s clearly an unimaginable shooter who has been residing off a troublesome weight loss program of photographs with opposing defenses fully keyed in on stopping her.
It is a future WNBA star we get to get pleasure from proper now on the faculty degree taking part in for her state group. Clark already appears like a prodigy, and that is simply the beginning of her rise within the basketball world. Get on board now, as a result of watching her play goes to be one hell of a trip.
