Caitlin Clark has taken the college basketball world by storm. The 22-year-old recently became the all-time leading scorer in the history of college basketball. After that, she has been the talk of the town. Recently, NFL veteran Shannon Sharpe, while talking about the current state of college sports, gave major props to the Iowa women’s basketball star. As per Sharpe, Clark is single-handedly leading the charge to make women’s basketball a much bigger trend.
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On the recent episode of ‘First Take’, the 3-time Super Bowl champion said that he considers himself a sports historian. The 55-year-old has seen the game evolve and witnessed several great players who represented women’s basketball. However, Sharpe is positive that he has never seen a better offensive player than Clark as he added,
“I’ve seen a lot of women play and I’ve seen a lot of men play. She’s the most complete offensive player in the college game has ever seen. No one can score the ball like she could and facilitate like she can.”
“She’s the most complete offensive player in the college game has ever seen. … I can name five women quicker than I can name five men in college basketball. That’s what she’s done.”
—@ShannonSharpe on Caitlin Clark’s impact pic.twitter.com/yHmYM3doeG
— First Take (@FirstTake) March 4, 2024
In addition to her game, Sharpe also seemed impressed by the star power that the 22-year-old possesses at this stage. He said that for someone like Travis Scott to show up at a college basketball game to see her play speaks to the reputation she is building for herself.
Travis Scott with the Iowa Women’s Basketball team pic.twitter.com/HhLRYGDtcS
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) March 4, 2024
Labeling Clark as “box office” and “impactful”, Sharpe also sounded impressed by the current state of women’s basketball in the country, largely due to the IOWA star. He went on to compare the state of men’s college basketball to the hype that women’s basketball has created. He added,
“I can name five women quicker than I can name five men in college basketball. That’s what she’s done…I couldn’t name you five guys that play college basketball right now. But I can name you Juju Watkins, I can name you Angel Reese, I can name you Caitlin Clark, I can give you Cameron Brink.”
Sharpe is an advocate for women’s sports and the happiness of their success can be seen in the way he talks about it. Moreover, Clark deserves every bit of it as she seems to be on a spree of breaking records.
Caitlin Clark has been breaking records
Clark is on a meteoric rise in the world of basketball right now. The 22-year-old has been breaking records, some of which stood for over half a century, getting media attention, and making money off her reputation, all at the same time.
Recently she broke Kelsey Plum’s 3,527-point record to become the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women’s basketball history. A few weeks later, she became the all-time leading scorer in the history of NCAA men and women.
When Caitlin Clark was a kid, her dad couldn’t find a girls league for her age.
So she joined a boys league and won an AAU state championship.
Parents even complained she shouldn’t be allowed to play with boys.
Now, Clark owns the NCAA scoring record—for both men and women pic.twitter.com/zgdFib6qav
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) March 3, 2024
Clark cruised past the record of Pete Maravich’s 3,667 career points, which was intact for 54 years. She is also the record holder in assists for IOWA and the all-time leader in assists for the Big Ten Conference. Other than making history with her game, the 22-year-old is also making money from her NIL deals.
Her current NIL valuation stands at a staggering $910,000, which means her income from this will easily surpass the salary she will make from her rookie deal. In the current women’s basketball pool, she is only behind Angel Reese who has a NIL valuation of $1.7 million, and Flau’jae Johnson with $1.1 million.
