April 3, 2024 – 9:51 PM PDT
Caitlin Clark, who broke the NCAA Division I women’s single-season and career scoring records this campaign, won the Naismith National Player of the Year Award for the second consecutive year.
The Iowa senior was honored in a ceremony held Wednesday in Cleveland, where the Hawkeyes will play in the Final Four on Friday.
The other nominees were USC freshman JuJu Watkins, UConn’s Paige Bueckers and Stanford’s Cameron Brink.
“I think it’s been a special year for women’s basketball, and also to win this award is really special,” Clark said. “But to be back here playing with my team, I couldn’t script it any better. … This (award is just as much my teammates’) as it is mine. I’m just very grateful and thankful, and I’ll see you all on Friday night.”
Clark is averaging 32 points and nine assists per game, both figures leading the nation. She also pulls down 7.3 rebounds per contest.
Her record point totals stand at 1,183 this season and 3,900 for her four-year career.
She is the first women’s player to win multiple Naismith awards since UConn’s Breanna Stewart captured three straight from 2014-16.
Bueckers, back after missing a season due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament, is contributing 22 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game for the Final Four-bound Huskies. She and UConn will oppose Clark and Iowa on Friday.
Watkins averaged 27.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists, as she broke the Division I freshman record for scoring.
Brink logged 17.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists and a nation-best 3.7 blocks per game.
-Field Level Media