Caitlin Clark rewrote the college basketball rulebook.
The former Iowa guard has catapulted the women’s game to new heights and entered the WNBA with an all-time record 3,685 career points.
But Clark’s immense milestone is already under threat as the next generation looks to build on the foundations she laid.
USC sophomore sensation Juju Watkins has already joined the 1,000 yard club.
The 19-year-old took just 38 games to hit the mark – two fewer than Indiana Fever superstar Clark.
She brought up four figures in a dominant 81-50 win for the 4-0 Trojans over Santa Clara.
Watkins joined an elite club but knows she must keep her foot on the gas as Clark did not let up throughout her college career.
Delaware’s Elena Delle Donne and Weber State’s Kathy Miller also took 38 games to hit 1,000, while LSU’s Maree Jackson and Oregon State’s Carol Menken only needed 37.
Watkins was a high school standout in California, earning multiple national Player of the Year honors.
She racked up 920 points as a freshman and has shown no signs of suffering a sophomore slump.
Cheryl Miller’s 3,018 career points are the benchmark for the Trojans.
The USC great has emerged as a mentor for Watkins, urging her to focus on the mental aspect of the game.
“I’m not worried about the physical. You’re a young kid, and you’re going to continue to grow into your body,” she said.
“It’s the mental fatigue that I worry from you.
“That’s what I need from you, to find that quiet space.”
USC faces Notre Dame on November 23, which will give Watkins another chance to shine.
Clark has changed the landscape of women’s basketball.
Appearing on The Deal podcast, Sue Bird explained how while the league was on an upwards trajectory already, the WNBA boom now is down to Clark with record growth in every area since her arrival into the league.
“All of a sudden, this player named Caitlin Clark comes,” she said.
“And the way I frame it is, fire was going, it was burning. And it was burning brighter.
“Even if you look at the 2023 viewership in the WNBA Finals, it was way higher than 2022.
“It was starting, the fire was there, but Caitlin came, and she poured gasoline all over that thing and just took it to another level.”
With players like Watkins in the pipeline, there is plenty more fuel for the fire.
