Jay Williams, a former Duke star, believes it’s premature to hail Caitlin Clark, the star of the Iowa Hawkeyes, as a standout player. He contends that she has yet to secure the ultimate accolade: an NCAA women’s basketball championship.
On Thursday, Iowa’s standout guard, Clark shattered the all-time NCAA women’s basketball scoring record with an impressive 49-point performance in their 106-89 victory over Michigan. Clark claimed the record by sinking a logo 3-point shot early in the first quarter, surpassing Kelsey Plum’s previous milestone.
Following the game, greats like Tom Brady, Billie Jean King, and Alex Morgan, along with former rival Angel Reese, showered praise on her. ESPN/SEC analyst, Andraya Carter lauded Clark, describing the six-foot player as both a great athlete and a beloved figure among fans, regardless of whether she’s playing at home or away. However, Williams said:
I think she has changed the dynamics of the way the game is played. I think the way she plays, the pizzazz, like, she’s probably the most prolific scorer the game of basketball has ever seen.
He continued:
I am unwilling to say that she is great yet. I hold great, or the levels of immortality or the pantheon, to when you win championships. So I’m not saying that she’s not at a high, high, high level, but for her to go to the states of immortality in my opinion, it has to culminate with your team winning a championship.
Having surpassed Kelsey Plum’s record, Caitlin Clark now edges closer to another historic scoring milestone. The Hawkeyes guard is just 99 points away from surpassing Pete Maravich as the all-time leading scorer in both men’s and women’s college basketball.
After Caitlin Clark broke Kelsey Plum’s record to become the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer in women’s basketball, she received congratulations from Tom Brady, Angel Reese, Billie Jean King, Alex Morgan, and more. Andraya Carter praised Clark for her ability to captivate crowds at both home and away games, calling her a great player on “College GameDay.” However, Jay Williams, another analyst on the show, disagreed with Clark’s greatness at this point.
Caitlin Clark (via The New York Times)This then sparked a frenzy on social media with the popular social media platform, X (formerly known as Twitter) seeing the most reactions. Following are some of the reactions.
It’s because she is white and he doesn’t want to give a white girl credit.
— CUZZIN.ETH (@AltcoinsCuzzin) February 17, 2024
Larry Bird must’ve absolutely sucked at Indiana state.
— NashvilleHawk (@mw66896684) February 17, 2024
Jay Williams isn’t a champion if he doesn’t have Carlos Boozer and Shane Battier on his team
— Anthony Russo (@Anthony_Russo97) February 17, 2024
I am sorry but if you are one of the people that refuses to acknowledge how special Clark is then you should not watch sports or better yet don’t talk sports.
— Lonnie Rowe (@coachrowe20) February 17, 2024
Let’s be honest. He refusing to say she’s great because she’s white.
— T.A. Arceneau (@TAArceneau) February 17, 2024
Jay is what we call on the streets as a HATER
We don’t care what haters say, we know CC is extremely talented and just gettin better. https://t.co/PZaNjpZX2d— ☘️Jennifer M😈 (@Jennife55216657) February 18, 2024
Despite scoring 30 points and dishing out eight assists, Clark and the Hawkeyes narrowly missed winning the national championship last year when they fell to LSU in the title game. Throughout the 2023-24 campaign, they have consistently hovered near the top of the AP Top 25 poll. However, after a loss to Nebraska, they slipped two spots from the No. 2 position.
