Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark set the NCAA record for most points scored in a career during her four seasons playing for the Iowa Hawkeyes, but somehow, ESPN snubbed her.
Clark has single-handedly elevated the popularity of women’s basketball.
Before she made her way to the WNBA, the all-time NCAA leading scorer led Iowa to back-to-back championship games, but she would lose to the LSU Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks.
Last season, Iowa’s match against South Carolina drew an estimated 18.9 million viewers, making it the most-watched basketball game in the country since 2019.
However, does all of that solidify Clark’s legacy as one of the greatest college hoopers ever?
ESPN certainly did not think so.
ESPN analysts Sam Ravech, Ari Chambers, and Alexa Philippou had a segment titled ‘Is Caitlin Clark The Greatest Of All Time In College Basketball?’
After initially placing Clark at No. 5 on the list, Ari Chambers said, “Love Caitlin, love how she has transcended the game… But in the open, we said, ‘What makes a top-five player? Winning.’ The only thing, the only strike against Caitlin Clark, is that she has not won a National Championship.
“And that is the only thing that you can put against her because the way that she has dominated the record books when she was at Iowa was something you could put duplicate,” Chambers added before later saying, “But how can you be a top-five player if you have not won a title?”
That would lead to Sam Ravech removing Clark from the top-five ranking and instead placing basketball legend Cheryl Miller at No. 5.
The rest of the list included New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart at No. 1, Candace Parker at No. 2, Diana Taurasi at No. 3, and Maya Moore at No. 4.
Fans were not thrilled:
“Like it’s ESPN are at all surprised?” one fan asked sarcastically.
“There has not been a better college basketball player, on the women’s side of things, than Caitlin Clark. All you had to do was just watch one game, and you could figure it out,” a second person stated.
“No shade, my dear. For you to be considered the greatest in any sports, you must have a title to show for it. Caitlin might be one of the best if not the best player in history of WCBB ever but she will not be rated among the greatest. She did amazing taking Iowa Hawkeyes to consecutive finals but she lost both. History remembers only the winners,” another person added.
“So, using the logic that you have to win a championship to be great, CC would not be in the top 1000 greatest? Guess what other all-time great college players never won a ship? Larry Bird, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, for a start,” a fourth person commented.
One last person stated: “Total joke!”
Caitlin Clark Shuts Down Critics With Phenomenal Rookie Campaign
Caitlin Clark, the number one overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever, had a lot said about her dominance in college basketball.
Many thought the Indiana Fever guard would struggle in her first year.
Clark got 66 of 67 votes from a national media panel and was a near-unanimous pick for WNBA Rookie of the Year.
Clark averaged 19.2 points, a WNBA-high 8.4 assists, 5.7 rebounds, 1.33 steals and 35.4 minutes.
