Even without a title, Clark is absolutely one of the greatest players of all time.
She is a two-time unanimous national player of the year, holds the NCAA Division I all-time scoring record, and both the NCAA tournament 3-point and scoring career record, among many others.
Throughout her four years at Iowa, Clark has willed the Hawkeyes to not only compete, but win, against the blue-bloods of women’s basketball in UConn, South Carolina and Kim Mulkey’s LSU.
The Iowa women’s basketball program had been close to this position.
Megan Gustafson was the 2019 Naismith Player of the Year, and she brought the Hawkeyes to the Elite Eight.
But Clark brought the Hawkeyes to a place they’ve never been.
The 2022-23 season was Iowa’s first Final Four since 1993, and the program’s first national championship appearance.
This season, even with two starters leaving, Clark brought them back to the exact same spot.
It is the first time Iowa has seen back-to-back Final Fours, much less back-to-back championship game appearances
Through the name, image, and likeness era, she’s grown into a household name, willing rapper Travis Scott, actor Jason Sudeikis, WNBA stars Maya Moore and Sue Bird and baseball legend Nolan Ryan to Iowa City for games.
She and the Iowa team have been behind viewership records on seven different networks, including the most-watched women’s basketball game on record — 14.2 million people watched the Iowa-UConn Final Four game on Friday.
This national championship game, aired nationally on ABC, will likely have a viewership even higher than that.
