Caitlin Clark deserves to become record holder for men and women

Today it is likely my basketball hero Pistol Pete Maravich’s career NCAA scoring record of 3,667 points will fall. A girl will displace him.

Until a few weeks ago I had never heard of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark. I guess that might just be because I haven’t really followed major women’s college basketball. She’s been tearing it up over four seasons.

Maravich played at Louisiana State University over 50 years ago and has been dead for 35 years. But for me he set the mark in basketball. After he left the NBA I pretty much quit watching professional basketball. He played for the love of the game in a time when the money wasn’t even a small fraction of today’s NBA contracts. Today’s NBA is all about the celebrity and not for me.

I have to clarify that just because I haven’t followed womens college basketball or even mens college basketball to any great degree doesn’t mean I’m not all about girls basketball. I’ve covered as many girls games as boys games and I love watching our local teams including the Rams and Greyhounds.

Go girls! Two good girls teams squaring off is sometimes even more fun to watch because play is usually the basics and I like the basics of passing and working the ball inside.

Clark’s skills like Maravich’s go way beyond the basics. On their own, both danced to a different tune and were poetry in motion. On a team, they both elevated teammates to another level as well. Both were noted for their scoring but underrated for the assists they fed teammates.

Maravich was a passing wizard with behind-the-back and no-look passes. He forced his teammates to get better or get off the court. The footage I’ve seen of Clark is not quite as dramatic but she has the same bag of tricks on display.

Shooting, like for Maravich, is no problem for Clark. It almost seems like an afterthought to take the shot. It really doesn’t matter too much whether they cover her or not. She’ll just step back and pop the three anyway.

Wednesday night she first broke the womens career record for most threes with back-to-back 40-footers. Then she rolled past Lynette Woodard’s record of 3,649 points that was made prior to women’s NCAA and without the three-point line. That sets her up to roll past Pete next.

Pistol Pete didn’t have the benefit of the three-point line. If the three had counted in his day it’s likely no one would catch him.

The man is gone too soon and the what-ifs don’t matter. The woman is on a remarkable pace and she is truly great, really great. She deserves to elevate all women by becoming the all-time collegiate basketball record holder for men and women.

Karl Terry writes for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at:

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