With Caitlin Clark making a significant impact in her rookie season in the Women’s National Basketball Association, there is a prominent hole in women’s college basketball of who will be the next big thing.
Clark is widely recognized as one of the greatest college athletes ever.
During her time in the NCAA, she set the all-time scoring record with 3,951 points and the all-time women’s single-season record with 1,234 points. She also scored the most three-pointers in a career with 548, the most NCAA tournament points in a career with 491 points and is second all-time in career triple-doubles.
With a resume like Clark’s, attempting to fill her shoes will be challenging for players in college, but there are plenty of current players to compete to take that spot.
“I think there are a lot of players, not just Caitlin Clark, but this whole rookie class that went into the WNBA this year,” said Evie DePetro, a graduate shooting guard. “All eyes have been on them.”
While Clark has been highlighted as the end-all-be-all of women’s college basketball for the past few years, other draftees in her class have also performed very well in the league to this point.
“She was that standout player for that Iowa team, but I feel like teams like South Carolina and LSU have a lot of big names,” DePetro said.
College rival and former Louisiana State University forward Angel Reese was drafted six positions lower than Clark and performed arguably as well in the WNBA this past season.
Clark, no matter what, was a prominent role model for many young female athletes and continues to play this role even after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever this year.
“She’s one of my biggest role models, and I have looked up to her throughout college,” said Eva Garabadian, a freshman shooting guard. “She made people realize that women’s college basketball is the real deal.”
Clark drew in an average viewership of nearly 10 million people for the National Championship in 2023.
“I think that the people she brought in will still keep watching college basketball because they’re wondering who’s going to be the next big thing,” said Natalia Bolden, a sophomore forward. “The players I like or could fill that viewership rate would be Flau’jae Johnson from LSU and her teammate, Mikaylah Williams.”
The LSU Tigers are in a prime position to step up this season, finishing second to the University of South Carolina in the SEC conference the previous year and have a talented set of players all over their roster.
“I think Caitlin Clark leaving brought a lot of attention, but some players have filled in those shoes, so I think they will do a great job, too,” Garabadian said.
This college basketball season will be the first since 2019 without Clark. With the first few games underway early last week, only time will tell who will step into the role Clark has established at the college level.
