Once-in-a-Generation
Caitlin Clark is a once-in-a-generation basketball player. She just wrapped up her college basketball career with a loss in the final game of the women's NCAA basketball tournament.
Now that her college career is over, talking heads and fans are beginning to have a conversation about whether or not she is the GOAT (Greatest of all Time). Some said she couldn’t be because she never won a national championship. Others say she’s not because her record-breaking point totals benefited from the three point line, where other top scorers didn’t have the same opportunity because the three point line hadn’t been introduced into the game yet.
Her critics are missing the point. Why? Because sports is entertainment. Caitlin Clark is, simply said, a once-in-a-generation player. Those who watched her play will be talking about watching her play for decades. It may not make her a GOAT, but she has elevated women’s college basketball.
Yes, the South Carolina Gamecocks beat Caitlin Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes to win the national championship. It was a remarkable accomplishment for South Carolina as they had a perfect year, winning all 38 games they played.
Despite this remarkable accomplishment, South Carolina has been somewhat overshadowed by talk about Caitlin Clark. How could this be? Because we just witnessed greatness, a remarkable once-in-a-generation player whose college career was coming to an end.
In case you do not watch college basketball, Caitlin Clark shattered NCAA record books. I can’t list all of her accomplishments, but here are a couple remarkable ones:
She is the first Division 1 college basketball player in history to have 3,800+ points, 1000+ assists, and 950+ rebounds, of any woman or man.
She is the highest-scoring player in Division 1 college basketball history for women and men.
Viewership of women’s college basketball skyrocketed because of Caitlin Clark. The women’s final game had over 18.7 million average viewers, topping out at 24 million viewers. By comparison, this year’s men’s game had 14.8 million viewers. This is the first time viewership for a women’s final was greater than for the men’s.
Sports is entertainment and Caitlin Clark was amazing to watch. I started watching and following women’s college basketball because of Caitlin Clark. I’m not interested in discussing if Caitlin is the GOAT or not, I just want to acknowledge and appreciate what I watched her do on a basketball court.
Yes she scored more points that any college basketball player ever, but focusing on that also misses the point. Her ability to get off three point shots was amazing to watch. She has such a fast trigger and takes shots five to seven feet beyond the three point arc. It was breathtaking to watch. Aside from being very difficult to do, this puts an incredible amount of pressure on the defensive team because they have to defend a larger part of the court.
Being able to shoot from that far out also opened up spacing for her to drive to the basket; which she did effortlessly and fearlessly, taking on bigger and stronger women in the paint near the rim. She was crafty with her body position and seemingly able to score at will near the basket. She is such an amazing basketball player that her opponents organized their defensive game plan to minimize the impact she could have on the game. In spite of game planning to stop her, she usually prevailed.
When you are able to consistently do what you want on the court while the other team is organized around stopping you and they can’t, you are a once-in-a-generation player.
Extending the defense also opened up spacing on the floor to enable her teammates to use that extended open floor space to get open so Caitlin could pass them the ball. It was a joy to watch her thread the needle on passes to her teammates who where cutting full speed attacking the basket. This is really hard to do yet Caitlin made it look easy. You have to see the spacing and be able to anticipate where they are going and be able to get the ball to them with a defender in your face. She did this, time and time again.
During one remarkable play she passed the ball two thirds of the court to her teammate who was sprinting down behind the defense and hit her in full stride for an easy lay up. Her ability to make passes that others can’t is astonishing.
Caitlin Clark unquestionably made her teammates better. I know this by watching her play and the results her team produced. Iowa women’s basketball has made it to the final four three times and twice they got to the final game, which they did in each of the last two seasons with Caitlin Clark as their leader.
I got to witness Caitlin Clark’s greatness. It gives me chills typing it. It brought me joy and awe as I watched. Thank you Caitlin.
Sports is, after all, entertainment, and boy was I entertained. Her speed, grace, and determination were a joy to watch. Her sport IQ is off the charts. She seemingly knows and understands everything that’s happening on the court both offensively and defensively, not just for her team but for her opponents as well. Her ability to score and assist is based upon her ability to take what the defense was giving her without having to force what she wanted to do.
Her leadership and humility was on full display both on and off the court. I saw her directing her teammates and taking responsibility for her own poor play or shot selection in realtime on the court with her teammates. During interviews when reporters wanted to talk about all her many accomplishments and records, she would respond with comments focused on the team and her teammates.
Caitlin Clark is a once-in-a-generation player. I hope you got to enjoy the show has much as I did.