How Caitlin Clark Is Handling Rock Star-Level Celebrity Life
Iowa Hawkeyes senior point guard Caitlin Clark has transcended superstardom in the women's game to become a bona fide superstar anywhere.
Clark is the reigning Associated Press Player of the Year, John R. Wooden Award honoree, Naismith College Player of the Year, USBWA National Player of the Year, and winner of the Wade Trophy, James E. Sullivan Award and Honda Sports Award, a soon-to-be-four-time First-Team All-American (including a soon-to-be-two-time unanimous selection).
She's the most prolific scorer in college ever, and her sharpshooting tenacity has endeared her to millions.
This year, the new all-time NCAA leader in points scored, male or female, is averaging 32. points on .465/.393/.851 shooting splits, 8.7 assists, 7.3 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 0.5 blocks a night across 30 regular season contests for the 26-4 Hawkeyes.
In a fresh episode of Bleav's The Big 10 Show, host Adam Carriker spoke with The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports Network columnist Chad Leistikow, who tracks Iowa hoops, about the Clark phenomenon.
"You cover a men's game, Iowa men's game or something, and she'll be at the game watching, but... if she was there by herself, she'd be mobbed by fans," Leistikow said. "Well, they try to come up to her anyway. But now she has two police officers that sit around her, near her, that kind of shoo people, 'Hey, she wants to enjoy the game today, that type of thing.' And that's totally cool. That's how she rarely gets these chances to breathe and just watch the men's game or whatever. But that's kind of her world now -- going to restaurants, anywhere she goes, she's going to be nationally recognized. And so it's kind of crazy to think about like you don't really see this very often at that young of an age in college."
"College athletes don't generally become that big of a superstar. She is just on a whole 'nother level in terms of the celebrity. And that's what I would call her on everywhere we've gone, like on the road covering this team. It is truly like covering... a Taylor Swift or [another] big music star or something, like where there's an entourage, there's like a presence everywhere they go, cameras everywhere you go, people screaming wherever you go. I mean, it is kind of that rock star thing that's why it's just been so unique to be covering all this in the last year."
Check out Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation resource for all things Iowa, Inside The Hawkeyes.
