Caitlin Clark ranks behind one star as the best college player ever according to the future WNBA Rookie of the Year
Although she never became a national champion, Caitlin Clark holds several NCAA records
With the WNBA season in a break due to the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup in Berlin, it's a good time to remember that the jump from college basketball to the pros is not easy for everyone, but recent rookies who will represent Team USA in the World Cup like Rhyne Howard , Aliyah Boston , Caitlin Clark , Angel Reese , and Paige Bueckers have exceeded expectations, putting the bar high for newcomers.
This season it's the second overall pick Olivia Miles who has excelled, acting as the engine for the best team in the league while firmly entering MVP conversations alongside A'ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark , with the Rookie of the Year award looking like a total lock for her.
Through 38 games, Miles is averaging 19.7 PPG and 6.0 APG , both leading her squad and ranking inside the top eight across the entire WNBA . She has accumulated a total of 749 points , sitting just 20 points behind Caitlin Clark's all-time rookie record of 769 points , and with four games left to play, it is only a matter of time before she establishes a brand-new rookie scoring standard.
Olivia Miles Places Caitlin Clark Just Behind Breanna Stewart in NCAA History
During her stellar collegiate career split between Notre Dame and TCU , Miles accomplished remarkable feats, including becoming the first freshman in tournament history, men's or women's, to log a triple-double , though she never quite reached the ultimate national championship game.
While she never squared off directly against Caitlin Clark's Iowa squad on the college hardwood, Miles readily acknowledges CC's extraordinary greatness, ultimately ranking her as the second-best player in NCAA history , positioned directly behind legendary icon Breanna Stewart.
In a featured media segment following her draft selection, Miles was prompted to navigate a bracket-style format weighing various historical women’s basketball luminaries, a process that steadily winnowed the field down to a final pairing of Clark and Stewart .
When forced to make the definitive selection, Miles leaned toward Stewart. "See, this is hard," Miles explained. "Caitlin has the scoring, the assists. Stewie has four chips and four MVPs. I’m just gonna have to go Stewie just based off her dominance and winning. "
Weighing Championship Rings Against Historic All-Time Scoring Records
Opting for Stewart is hard to argue against statistically, given that she finished her collegiate run with an astonishing 151-5 overall record , captured four consecutive national championships at UConn, earned the Final Four Most Outstanding Player award four times , and stands alone as the only player in women's college basketball history to secure that honor during every single tournament appearance of her career.
On the other hand, Clark carved out a completely different yet equally immortal legacy, leading the Iowa Hawkeyes to back-to-back National Championship appearances while wrapping up her historic tenure as the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer across both men's and women's basketball with 3,951 career points .
As a two-time national player of the year , Clark also swept the all-time tournament records for total points, assists, and three-pointers , proving that whether one values Stewart's unmatched hardware or Clark's revolutionary statistical dominance, both guards represent the absolute pinnacle of the collegiate game.
