The average ticket price to a women’s Iowa Hawkeyes basketball game is $571, astronomically surpassing the average ticket cost for a women’s NCAA basketball game of $49 by 1065%. Iowa’s increasing popularity is mainly the result of one player’s immense talent and skill: Caitlin Clark.
Averaging 32.2 points per game, she recently broke two long-standing records in NCAA basketball. First, she obliterated the all-time women’s scoring record, then continued her domination by beating Pete Maravich’s record in her senior year by scoring more than 3,667 points throughout her career at the University of Iowa. Due to her recent record breaks and her incomparable shooting abilities, she has become well-known throughout the nation. Caitlin’s remarkable performance continues to attract millions of viewers, many of them being individuals who would not usually watch basketball, especially women’s basketball due to its lack of popularity in comparison to the NBA. While acting as a role model for young girls in sports through her dedication, talent, and sportsmanship, she continues revolutionizing women’s sports and breaking barriers to benefit future generations of female athletes. Sophomore Izzy Wagner described Cailtlin’s impact on the sports community, “I love her! I think she is an inspiration to young women everywhere and is really changing not only women’s basketball but women’s sports all around.”
One of Caitlin’s admirable attributes as a player that contributes to her success and, in turn, makes her such an invaluable player is her ability to accumulate points as though it requires no difficulty while leading the league in assists. As such a versatile and well-rounded player, she acts as an example for young athletes by teaching them the importance of both teamwork and hard work, ultimately symbolizing the vital importance of being a team player and demonstrating how team oriented values lead to both team and personal success as her team holds the second seed position in the Big Ten. Freshman on the varsity basketball team at Hingham High, Lila Sweeney, described, “I think she’s an example of the next generation of women’s basketball players and her breaking the record is something so special because it solidifies her spot as the current face of college basketball.”
As her college season comes to an end following the Big Ten tournament, many fans are excited to see Caitlin enter the WNBA and support her through her professional career where she will continue to change the game of basketball.
