March Madness 2023: Iowa Star Caitlin Clark by the Numbers
Caitlin Clark plays basketball in what one might describe as glitch mode. The 6-foot-tall guard’s stats seem impossible, her consistency unmatched. The fewest points she put up versus a ranked opponent this season was 19—accompanied by eight rebounds, eight assists and five steals.
The No. 2 seed Hawkeyes point guard has more than made her case for Player of the Year and will now lead Iowa’s pursuit of its first basketball national championship, men’s or women’s. Clark’s Hawkeyes haven’t made a Final Four appearance in the Big Dance since 1993; the closest they’ve come since has been an Elite Eight in 2019.
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For those who somehow missed the memo last year, Clark cemented herself as one of the faces of NCAA college basketball this season, regardless of gender, and became appointment television. In doing so, she gained tremendous exposure for herself (her social following continues to grow, as does her portfolio of NIL deals) and for Iowa’s program. She is now expected to fulfill the same role in the women’s NCAA tournament, a gig that started with her participation in Buick’s March Madness campaign alongside Stanford’s Cameron Brink, South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston, UConn’s Azzi Fudd and UCLA’s Kiki Rice.
When it comes to the 21-year-old Clark, the numbers speak for themselves. So that’s exactly what we’re going to let them do.
1: Clark’s rank in assists per game. More on that later…
2: The number of first-team All-American selections for the junior guard. This year, the Iowa native was one of just two unanimous selections, alongside South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston. Two is also the number of times Clark dropped more than 40 points this season.
3: Clark’s rank in points per game.
4: The number of triple-doubles Clark has this season, which leads the nation. Only one other player has more than one.
5: The number of high school or college basketball players signed to NIL deals by Nike this season, which Clark was among. Her roster of endorsers also includes Bose, Topps, H&R Block and Midwest grocery chain Hy-Vee.
8.3: Clark’s assists per game this season. Although she’s best known for raining threes like Steph Curry, Clark has ranked third, first and first in the NCAA in assists per game, respectively, in her three seasons at Iowa.
10: The number of triple-doubles Clark has in her career, which set a Big Ten record and marks the third most of any man or woman in NCAA history. Sabrina Ionescu had 26 during her four years at Oregon, more than double any other player, regardless of gender.
17: The most assists Clark dished in a single game this season, achieved while leading Iowa to a dominant Big Ten championship win over Ohio State. Clark rounded out her stat line with 30 points, 10 rebounds and one steal.
27: Her points per game average this year, which held steady from last season, when she led NCAA women’s DI hoops in PPG.
30: The number of times she’s scored 20 or more points this season, surpassing Ionescu for most career games scoring 20+ points while accumulating five boards and five assists.
40: The number of career double-doubles Clark has.
50.9%: Iowa’s field goal percentage as a team. The Hawkeyes are the only team in the country to make more than half of their shots, which they have done in each of the past three seasons. They have finished in the top five in offensive points per 100 possessions each year, per Sports Reference.
108: Clark’s total threes made this season, tied for first in the country.
2,000: In December, Clark became the fastest player in the history of women’s Division I college basketball to reach 2,000 career points, needing just 75 games to hit the milestone.
188,000: Clark’s Instagram follower count. (She has another 42,000 on Twitter.) Despite Clark’s star status, that total doesn’t place her among the top 10 most followed women playing in the NCAA tournament this year. UConn’s Paige Beuckers, who is sidelined this season with an injury, has 1 million followers on the platform.
1,000,000: Clark had reportedly already made more than $1 million in NIL endorsement deals before she signed with Nike last fall, landing her among a small group of reported seven-figure NIL earners across all college sports.
As typically happens to the college hoopers who shine during March Madness, Clark’s popularity, and thus her social following, could grow over the next two and a half weeks as her team finds itself in the national spotlight as a title favorite in a tough bracket. Iowa’s journey to the tournament’s final weekend starts Friday, when the Hawkeyes tip off against No. 15 Southeastern Louisiana.
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