Iowa Hawkeyes superstar Caitlin Clark is many things. After Wednesday, she can now call herself the recipient of the 2024 Naismith Trophy.
The Naismith Awards were announced on Wednesday to fanfare and plenty of attention. Clark’s win made her go back-to-back after she won the award last year in 2023.
The Naismith Awards X account posted, “Caitlin Clark is the 2024 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year.”
Clark is the latest women’s college star to win the Naismith Award twice or more. She joins an elite group of players who’ve received the honor multiple times. Cheryl Miller, Clarissa Davis, Dawn Staley, Chamique Holdsclaw, Diana Taurasi, Seimone Augustus, Maya Moore, Brittney Griner, and Breanna Stewart all won the award at least twice. Stewie and Miller are the only two players to ever win the award three times in their career.
Clark and the Hawkeyes will face Paige Bueckers and the UConn Huskies in the Final Four this weekend. Bueckers won the Naismith Award as a freshman in 2021. Bueckers is the only freshman to ever win the Naismith Award.
Clark averaged 32.0 points this past season and will leave Iowa as the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer. Her illustrious career will likely leave a ripple effect on women’s college basketball that will be felt for many moons. She’s simply one of the best to ever do it, there’s no doubt about it.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022