Appreciating Greatness – Catlin Clark

Caitlin Clark is a phenomenon. She is a senior at the University of Iowa. This year she has broken too many records to list here. However, the big one is that she became the leading scorer in men’s and women’s college basketball history.  She currently has 3,685 points. In her career, she has averaged 32.8 points per game. She also has more assists than anyone else this year, which tells you a lot about her game. She also has more three pointers this year than any other player. In short, she has a lot of great components to her game.

Joe’s Perspective: Before Magic Johnson and Larry Bird entered the NBA (1979), playoff games were aired on tape delay. The NBA was not that big of a deal. However, Magic and Larry brought excitement and pizzaz to the game. Game attendance and TV coverage soon followed. I believe Caitlin has done the same for women’s college basketball and soon, she will dramatically impact the WNBA. Caitlin is probably the second most known female in America (after Taylor Swift). She has brought women’s basketball into the mainstream. People who have never watched the women’s game are tuning in to see the show. Wherever she plays, the arenas are sold out, including the Big 10 tournament this weekend. The TV ratings for her games are off the charts. Caitlin has shifted the culture.

Before Tiger Woods joined the PGA Tour, the purses of each tournament were a fraction of what they are today. After he joined the tour, he made golf cool. The crowds at tournaments grew exponentially and TV revenue exploded. I predict Caitlin will do the same for the WNBA. Right now, the salaries are relatively low ($147,000) for WNBA players, especially compared to the average salary of an NBA player ($9.7 million). The discrepancy has everything to do with ticket sales, TV contracts and merchandise. I predict that “the Caitlin effect” will begin to close that gap in the upcoming years. Every female athlete will benefit from her stardom.

For now, we should all just appreciate her greatness. She will be playing in the NCAA tournament in the coming weeks. I don’t think her team will win it all, but it will be fun to watch Caitlin and Iowa try to win a national championship.

Your Turn: What are your thoughts about Caitlin Clark and her success this year?