IOWA CITY, Iowa — Before the record was broken and the celebrations really began, Caitlin Clark found herself on an island.
If she makes history, if she becomes the all-time scoring leader in NCAA women’s basketball, she knew the master plan for the night.
photo. Memorial Basketball. Quick interviews with fans inside the arena.
But she didn’t know about the film. She wasn’t prepared for this.
With all eyes on her and five television cameras stationed just feet in front of her, Clark leans against the scorer’s table – the place where she has checked in and out hundreds of games over the past four years. — and looked at the big video board. She crossed her arms and braced herself. She promised herself that she wouldn’t cry that night.
But then her parents, Brent and Anne, appeared on screen first, followed by her two brothers, Blake and Colin, with her golden retriever Bella.
“It’s a huge milestone, huge numbers,” Anne said. “But remember, all the smiles, memories and many special moments behind this number will always be yours.”
Caitlin Clark post game celebration video pic.twitter.com/3ddL9pVVaE
— Scott Dochterman (@ScottDochterman) February 16, 2024
Brent was the first to hand the basketball to Clark. Her first coach. The one who wasn’t allowed to shoot long threes when she was a little kid because she wasn’t strong enough…yet. He made her practice shooting over and over again. The torture of the time. Hindsight is a gift.
They said her mother’s thoughts and memories were most like Caitlin’s. Her two brothers strengthened her as a child, and now they have become confidants and best friends as she rises to the top of her sport. Clark’s family has been her refuge and protection during a whirlwind year.
So on a night that honors Caitlin Clark as a player and all she accomplished for Iowa City over the past four seasons, it’s a moment that ultimately feels too big. In real life, her family sat 20 feet to her right, looking down at her from a big screen above the court, reflecting on the meaning of this journey.
On the scorer’s table, Clark pulled on her jersey collar and wiped her eyes and nose.
“There’s a lot of celebrities and cool people and people that I grew up idolizing and they’ve said a lot of really nice things to me, but when these people support you through your ups and downs and are with you every step of the way, Every step of the way, the journey – whether it’s good or bad – has been through hard days and good days,” Clark said. “That’s what’s most meaningful.”
Everyone knew that record was going to be broken Thursday night against Michigan. Clark was just eight points shy, just a quarter of a basketball away from her. But even in the warm-up phase, her shot had some extra energy. She is very loose. In a good way. However, she felt the pressure. In a good way too.
Iowa State coach Lisa Bluder has seen this version of her senior star before. Clark not only loves these moments; She exists best in these moments. That’s why Clark has all the game-winners, clutch shots and great performances. That’s why Bruder and assistant Jan Jansen went into last season’s Big Ten tournament championship game — when Clark posted a triple-double (30 points, 17 assists, 10 rebounds) — knowing that March or even April could be Something special happens. Clark was operating on another aircraft that she sometimes has access to. While she’s there, she can take the rest of Hawkeye with her. That game spurred their run to the NCAA Tournament in Dallas and to the national championship game, but Clark’s historic performance in Minneapolis was the start of that run.
On Thursday night at Iowa State’s home court, eight points away from setting a scoring record, Clark was back on the plane.
She hit her first shot — a spin off the backboard to the baseline.
Six points to go.
She hit her second shot, a right-to-left 3-pointer off a perfect Gabby Marshall screen.
Three points left.
Then, in a moment that seemed almost too perfect, Clark had the ball in his hands, dribbling from the left side of the floor in transition. She had destroyed her opponents in this way countless times before. In any scouting report on Clark, there will almost certainly be one section in all caps: Love to shoot transition 3s to her left. Don’t let her dribble to the left. Any place of transformation is within her realm.
Clark crossed half court, dribbled to her left and shot. She watched the ball hit the bottom of the net, then turned toward the crowd and flexed her body.
This record is hers.
“You all know I’m going to shoot the Mark 3 record,” Clark joked after the game. “bring it on.”
The arena erupted. Bluder didn’t call timeout quickly enough, so Clark jokingly lamented that her tired legs had to play some defense after that shot. But when Bluder finally called timeout, Iowa State just huddled quietly and let Clark reflect.
Three shots. Three productions. Caitlin Clark now leads the Division I scoring list. pic.twitter.com/mWi8hYlvvN
— Chantel Jennings (@ChantelJennings) February 16, 2024
Of course, fans haven’t remained silent. They stood and paid tribute to the player who gave the program its first national championship and now a scoring record. That’s why they’re here, and why most of them spent hundreds of dollars to attend tonight’s arena.
Because when Clark is on the court, history is made. Thursday, indeed. Clark scored a single-game record 49 points and hit a career-high nine 3-pointers, leading fourth-ranked Iowa to a 106-89 victory over Michigan. She now has 3,569 career points.
After the film, Clark met with his teammates at halftime. They wore custom-made Nike shirts that said, “You break it, you own it.” They handed out a copy of the Des Moines Register (Clark’s hometown newspaper) with Clark’s entire A photo with a bold caption: “Unparalleled”. They posed for a team photo and lost their minds as Clark began delivering her commemorative ball. (What else do you want Clark to do with the ball?)
Caitlin Clark signs autographs after a record-setting performance against Michigan. (Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
As the festivities continued on the field, children lined the benches and risers outside the field. With posters and T-shirts in hand, they didn’t remain silent either. Screams of “Caitlin!” Caitlin! Caitlin! ” has become the postgame soundtrack for the Iowa women’s basketball team, with Clark passing as many of them as he can after each game, accompanied by two security guards.
After she made history and a video on the video board made her cry, it was no different. As her influence and fame grew, she tried to remain as approachable as possible, no matter what it looked like. She tries to sign as many autographs as possible and take as many selfies as possible. For her, this is the most important part of her post-game routine. In some ways, this is all too recent.
Just over a decade ago, Clark attended his first WNBA game. She was 11 or 12 years old, and Brent drove her to a Bobcats game in Minneapolis. The team is in the midst of a journey to win four championships in seven seasons, and the Bobcats are the closest team to Clark’s West Des Moines home. For Caitlin, it was the first opportunity to see Maya Moore play in person.
After the game, Bobcats players held an event on the court. Clark saw his opportunity and ran out to hug Moore. She didn’t have a pen, marker or anything for Moore to sign, but she wanted to be close to her. Just wanted to be in the aura of Moore’s greatness.
“Ten seconds can have a huge impact on a person’s life,” Clark said.
Clark, now 22 and one of the nation’s top athletes, still misses that moment.
Fans spent hundreds (some, thousands) of dollars entering Carver-Hawkeye Arena Thursday night to watch Clark make history just to soak up the aura of Clark’s greatness. She wants them to remember that. But she also wants to remember the 10 seconds she spent with them. She hopes they remember the joy she had with her teammates and the passion with which she played.
As she signed her final autograph and jogged up the tunnel, Clark was an unparalleled leader in women’s basketball whose game helped change the game.
She’s still surrounded by press and security, but Clark has now put herself on a completely different island.
(Top photo of Caitlin Clark: Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
