Tonight against Northwestern University, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark will likely pass Jackie Stiles and Kelsey Mitchell on the NCAA’s all-time scoring list to become number 2 overall. Before this season ends, she could possibly pass Kelsey Plum, who has held the number 1 spot since 2017 with 3,527 points overall.

But whether or not she ends her college career as the all-time scoring leader, or merely number 2 in NCAA history, Clark will have had a remarkable run. More importantly, and without a doubt, she has moved the needle a great distance in terms of the popularity and status of the women’s game, maybe more so than any single player or team in the history of women’s basketball.

You don’t even have to be a diehard women’s basketball fan to know who Clark is. She has become a household name, thanks to the constant media attention afforded her. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and youTube are awash with videos highlighting her “logo threes” as well as her Larry-Bird like passes. She’s a slam dunk to be the number one pick in the WNBA draft if she goes pro after this season.

That’s not to discount the tremendous college and professional careers of such stars as Candace Parker, Sheryl Swoops, Lisa Leslie, Brittany Griner, Dianna Taurasi, Sue Bird, and more recently, Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson. Or the bumps in popularity of the women’s game that resulted from the 1996 US team’s Olympic gold medal in Atlanta and from the UConn-Tennessee rivalry years of the 1900s and 2000s. But there’s something about Caitlin Clark that has captured the imagination of even the most casual fans of the game. Maybe it’s the supreme confidence that she so obviously exudes. Maybe it’s the fact that she, like Jackie Stiles, who played at Southwest Missouri State, leads a midwestern university that prior to her tenure was good but not a powerhouse program by any means. Like Stiles, Clark has been a giant-killer. Stiles and her teammates made it to the Final Four in 2001, never to reach those heights again. Clark, likewise, led Iowa to the championship final last year. They hadn’t made a Final Four appearance since Vivian Stringer coached the Hawkeyes in 1993.

Iowa is a contender again this year, though they may not make it past South Carolina like they did last year. But that won’t diminish Clark’s star. She is sure to be the number one pick in the WNBA draft whenever she commits. The WNBA careers of Stiles, Mitchell, and Plum suggest that a scoring machine with an incredible step-back move, who can create her own shots and use screens to her advantage will be able to hold her own in the WNBA. Stiles was the league’s rookie of the year in 2002, before a series of injuries ended her pro career prematurely. Mitchell averages 18 points a game for the Indiana Fever, and Plum is a two-time all-star for a team with lots of all-stars, the Las Vegas Aces.

As a pro, Clark should compete for Rookie of the Year honors, especially if she turns pro this spring. In that case, she’ll likely be chosen by Indiana, where she will team up with Mitchell and last-year’s number one draft pick, center Aliyah Boston. Indiana has been rebuilding since Tamika Catchings retired in 2016. With Clark on board, the magic could return to the Midwest.

The above photo is from the files of John Mac, licensed by Creative Commons 2.0