IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa freshman Caitlin Clark has been named USBWA Tamika Catchings Co-Freshman Player of the Year and a first team USBWA All-American, the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) announced Friday. UConn’s Paige Bueckers shares the Freshman of the Year honor.
Clark is the first Iowa freshman to be named to the All-America team and the first to win the USBWA Freshman of the Year award. The honor is Clark’s third Co-Freshman of the Year accolade. During the season, Clark and Bueckers tied for the record number of USBWA Freshman of the Week honors with four.
Clark led Hawkeyes to the Sweet Sixteen after not being projected to make the NCAA field of 68 at the beginning of the season. It marked the program’s eighth Sweet Sixteen appearance, and its third in its last four NCAA Tournament appearances.
Clark led the nation in total assists (214), total points (799), points per game (26.6), field goals made (266), 3-pointers made (116), and ranked second in assists per game (7.1) and 3-pointers per game (3.87).
This season, Clark averaged 26.6 points, 7.1 assists, and 5.9 rebounds per game in 30 games. She set the Iowa freshman record with 26.6 points per game (men’s or women’s), recorded the fourth-highest points per game in single season in Iowa history (men’s or women’s), and was the 2020-21 NCAA Division I scoring leader (men’s or women’s). She is the only Division I student-athlete to record 12, 30-point games this season — the most by an NCAA Division I freshman since 2000.
The West Des Moines, Iowa, native broke the Iowa women’s basketball record for points scored in a freshman campaign with 799 points and ranks third all-time at Iowa for points in a single season behind Megan Gustafson’s junior and senior seasons. She also broke Iowa’s all-time freshman assist record with 214 on the season, surpassing former Hawkeye Kathleen Doyle, who recorded 148 assists during her freshman campaign in 2016-17. She ranks fourth all-time at Iowa for assists in a single season.
NATIONAL AWARDS TRACKER
- Dawn Staley Award Winner (April 2)
- USBWA Tamika Catchings National Co-Freshman of the Year (April 2)
- WBCA Co-Freshman of the Year (March 30)
- The Athletic’s Co-Freshman of the Year (March 25)
- Named to The Athletic All-America Team (March 25)
- WBCA All-Region Team (March 24)
- USBWA Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week (Jan. 5, Feb. 17, Feb. 23, and March 2)
- NCAA Starting Five (Dec. 9, Dec. 30, Feb. 17, March 3)
- ESPN National Player of the Week (Dec. 14) — the first Big Ten freshman to earn the award.