Possible National College Player of the Year was a two-time MaxPreps All-American who once scored 60 points in a prep game.
Caitlin Clark is everywhere. Her game highlights are featured on ESPN's SportsCenter. He scoring
barrages and Stephen Curry-type shooting range have drawn praise from the likes of NBA stars like Kevin Durant. The University of Iowa
sophomore not only leads the nation in scoring (27.6 per game), but also
assists (8.1) and triple doubles (five).
But none of this should have come to a big surprise considering what she did in high school at
Dowling Catholic (West Des Moines, Iowa). What you see on current highlight reels is what she did on the prep ranks as shown in the video above.
As
a 5-foot-11 do-everything guard, Clark was a two-time MaxPreps
All-America pick who averaged 33.4 points, eight rebounds, four assists and 2.7
steals a game as a senior. Her averages as junior
(32.5, 7.0, 3.5 , 2.2) and sophomore
(27.1, 6.5, 4.0, 2.3) were also eye-opening.
She was a five-star
recruit, three-time All-State performer who broke two Iowa 5A records by
scoring 60 points and making 13 3-pointers in games. She also holds
the state 5A tournament playoff game marks for scoring 42 points and draining seven 3-pointers.
Clark told the
Des Moines Register, which named her the 2019-20 All-Iowa Girls Athlete of the Year, that she always wanted to be remembered more than for her gaudy high school numbers. Like players such as Sabrina Ionescu and Paige Bueckers, she wants to inspire younger players.
"A passionate person (who) inspired other people and inspired little girls to love basketball, (and someone who) brought attention to women's basketball and was a good teammate," she said. "And somebody that younger kids could look up to and want to be like that some day. Just (someone) who made people excited about women's basketball."
She's continued that in college. Clark is a favorite to win Player
of the Year honors, had high games of 46 points, 18 assists and 13 rebounds and she's on pace to threaten Kelsey Plum's career
NCAA scoring mark of 3,527.
"I’m one of those people that sets my goals really high," she told the Register. "I have
big dreams and big goals for myself, no matter what it is — not just in
basketball, but anything in life."
