Iowa Hawkeyes star guard Caitlin Clark is set to lead her team against the UConn Huskies in the Final 4 this coming Friday.
Clark has obviously been in the news a whole lot this season as she just became the all-time NCAA leading scorer. She’s going to be the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. She’s a generational talent with all sorts of range and dribbling skills. She’s drawn comparisons to NBA great Stephen Curry.
The question here is obvious. Is Clark being overhyped? Respected women’s basketball writer Doug Feinberg of the Associated Press joined Sportsnaut recently. The veteran scribe had a rather interesting take on Clark leading up to her final weekend of college basketball action.
“Everyone has their own definition of what a ‘GOAT’ is. But to me. To be the GOAT of college basketball, it’s not just what you can do offensively or defensively … it’s how many championships you have won. It’s a big part of it. To me, she is probably the greatest offensive player of all-time,” Doug Feinberg on Caitlin Clark.
“But that doesn’t make her the GOAT to me. I think Diana Taurasi is still the GOAT for winning three championships at UConn.”
Feinberg certainly has a point here. If Iowa is not able to come away with the championship this season, Clark will have ended her college career without a single title.
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Does Iowa need to win national championship for Caitlin Clark to be considered GOAT?
It’s obviously an open question. Looking at other sports, we don’t mention Dan Marino of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins in the same breath as Joe Montana or Tom Brady. Why? Well, he never won a champinoship. The same thing can be said for the NBA’s Charles Barkley.
What we do know is that Clark has been simply sensational as a senior. She heads into the Final 4 averaging 32.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 9.0 assists on 46% shooting on the campaign. That’s hard to look beyond.
Either way, this is a debate that will continue rage as Clark turns in her amateur career for the real thing in the WNBA.