Clark Named to Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa sophomore Caitlin Clark was named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced Wednesday on ESPNU.

The list is comprised of 25 student-athletes who are front-runners for the John R. Wooden Award All-America Team and Most Outstanding Player Award. The list includes four additional Big Ten athletes, including Michigan’s Naz Hillmon, Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes, and Maryland’s Ashley Owusu and Angel Reese.

Clark, a Des Moines, Iowa, native registered a career-high 44 points in the Hawkeyes’ win over Evansville on Sunday. With 5:04 left in the first quarter, Clark broke the 1,000-career point barrier, becoming the fastest Big Ten women’s basketball athlete and the eighth NCAA athlete to meet the mile marker in 40 games or less. Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell previously held the record with 1,000 in 41 games during the 2016-17 season. Clark is only the second NCAA athlete in the last 25 years to tally 1,000 points in 40 games or less — Delaware’s Elena Delle Donne did it in 38 games (2011-12).

Clark was named to the John R. Wooden Award Watch List last season. Former Hawkeye Megan Gustafson was named to the list in 2019. Gustafson went on to be named a John R. Wooden Award All-American and was one of three finalists for the Most Outstanding Player Award.

Clark and the Hawkeyes return to action Thursday, Jan. 6 in a home matchup against Northwestern inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Tip is set for 7 p.m. (CT) on B1G Network.