Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is on the road to becoming one of the greatest college basketball players in history, but trying to establish yourself as one of the best comes at a price. WNBA star Kelsey Plum, who currently holds the all-time NCAA scoring record, had some advice for Clark.
As of Dec. 5, Clark has 2,978 career points and is on track to break Plum’s record (3,527 points) this season. However, the former Washington guard and two-time WNBA champion warned Clark about the pressure.
“I feel like people started caring less about the game and more about just the individual points,” Plum said in an interview with the Associated Press. “You can play really well and score 15, 20 points and have a great game and people will be like, ‘Aw, it was only a 20-point game.'”
Caitlin Clark (2,954 pts) is currently on track to break Kelsey Plum’s scoring record (3,527 pts) in 19.35 games.
Here is how that looks on the schedule…
Game 18: vs Michigan (Feb 15)
Game 19: at Indiana (Feb 22)
Game 20: vs Illinois (Feb 25)
— Kyle Huesmann (@HuesmannKyle) November 27, 2023
Clark is not new to breaking records, so this one would be one more for her already impressive resume. She put up historic numbers in the last NCAA Tournament, including the most points ever scored in a men’s or women’s tournament. In November, Clark passed Plum’s record of most 30-point games in D1 women’s college basketball over the past 25 years.
The spotlight has been on her for a while, and fans sold out all Iowa home games for this season. Clark seems to be enjoying it, but Plum wants to make sure she just enjoys playing basketball and doesn’t put more pressure than needed on herself — especially when she makes the transition to play professionally.
“It was tough for me because I felt like I lost a little bit of my identity and it ultimately led to a tough transition into the (WNBA) because the expectations were so high,” Plum said. “So, if anything, I’d try to send her as much compassion and love as I can and I hope the people around her are checking in with her … because it’s going to be tough to feel like you’re just playing basketball.”