Caitlin Clark is the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer, for men or women, with 3,951 points to her name at the collegiate level. Early in her professional career, though, she’s made her biggest mark as a playmaker. That’s started to change since the Olympic break, and the Indiana Fever star is now in striking distance of the all-time rookie scoring record, which Seimone Augustus has held since 2006.
For the season, Clark is averaging 18.9 points per game, which ranks ninth in the league. Post-Olympics, though, she’s averaging 24.5 points, good for third in that span. On Sunday, she passed Tamika Catchings for the Fever’s rookie scoring record.
After pouring in another 24 points en route to a triple-double in a win over the Sparks on Wednesday, Clark needs 104 points in the Fever’s final six games to pass Augustus. At her current full season pace, she would do so during the Fever’s final regular-season game against the Washington Mystics on Sept. 19. If she maintains her post-Olympic pace, she would do so when the Fever play the Dallas Wings on Sept. 15.
Single-season rookie scoring record
Of course, it’s worth noting the league now has 40-game regular seasons, so Clark has six more games than Augustus did when she set the record. At the same time, Augustus had six more games than Cynthia Cooper-Dyke did in 1997, when she set the original mark. But then, because the WNBA didn’t start until 1997, Cooper-Dyke was 34 as a rookie and had already been playing professionally for a decade.
There will always be context to consider, but that doesn’t take away from what Clark has done during her brilliant first season. She already has the rookie assist record and is closing in on the all-time single-season assist mark. The combination of scoring and playmaking is unlike anything we’ve seen, regardless of a player’s experience.
