It’s unanimous: Caitlin Clark is the Big Ten women’s basketball player of the year

IOWA CITY — There was no dissenters. And really, there was no debate.

For the third consecutive year, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is the Big Ten women’s basketball player of the year. She was the unanimous pick, both by the media and the coaches.

Clark is the first back-to-back-to-back recipient of the honor since Ohio State’s Jantel Lavender was chosen in 2008 (coaches only), 2009 and 2010.

Iowa players have won the award in six of the last seven seasons: Megan Gustafson was the recipient in 2018 and 2019, Kathleen Doyle in 2020.

Clark and Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes were unanimous first-team selections by both the media and coaches, with Ohio State’s Jacy Sheldon joining that duo on the coaches’ list.

A senior from West Des Moines, Clark is the leading scorer in major-college women’s basketball history, with 3,685 points heading into the Big Ten tournament. She is averaging 32.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game this season.

Clark is the first Iowa player in program history to be a four-time first-team Big Ten selection.

Iowa’s Kate Martin and Hannah Stuelke were named to the second team.

A graduate student who has been with the program six years, Martin is averaging 13.0 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Martin also was Iowa’s recipient of the Big Ten sportsmanship award.

Stuelke is a sophomore from Cedar Rapids and is second on the team in scoring (14.4 ppg) and rebounding (6.9 per game). She briefly owned the record for most points scored in Carver-Hawkeye Arena history, scoring 47 against Penn State on Feb. 8.

The Hawkeyes (26-4) are the 2-seed in the Big Ten tournament and will face 7-seed Penn State or 10-seed Wisconsin in the quarterfinal round at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Target Center, Minneapolis.

Ohio State’s Kevin McGuff was chosen the Big Ten coach the year, both by media and coaches.

2024 All-Big Ten women’s basketball

MEDIA

First Team (*Unanimous)

*Caitlin Clark, Iowa; *Mackenzie Holmes, Indiana; Jacy Sheldon, Ohio State; Serah Williams, Wisconsin; Cotie McMahon, Ohio State; Alexis Markowski, Nebraska; Sara Scalia, Indiana; Laila Phelia, Michigan; Shyanne Sellers, Julie Ayrault, Michigan State.

Second Team

Hannah Stuelke, Iowa; Jaz Shelley, Nebraska; Celeste Taylor, Ohio State; Moira Joyner, Michigan State; Kate Martin, Iowa; Chloe Moore-McNeil, Indiana; Taylor Theirry, Ohio State; Makira Cook, Illinois; Makenna Marisa, Penn State; Kendall Bostic, Illinois.

All-Defensive Team

Serah Williams, Wisconsin; Celeste Taylor, Ohio State; Leilani Kapinus, Penn State; Mackenzie Holmes, Indiana; Jacy Sheldon, Ohio State.

All-Freshman Team

Mary Ashley Stevenson, Purdue; Natalie Potts, Nebraska; Grace Grocholski, Minnesota; Rashunda Jones, Purdue; Logan Nissley, Nebraska.

Player of the year — Caitlin Clark, Iowa (unanimous)

Defensive player of the year — Serah Williams, Wisconsin

Freshman of the year — Mary Ashley Stevenson, Purdue

Sixth player of the year — Theryn Hallock, Michigan State

Coach of the year — Kevin McGuff, Ohio State

COACHES

First Team (*Unanimous)

*Caitlin Clark, Iowa; *Jacy Sheldon, Ohio State; *Mackenzie Holmes, Indiana; Alexis Markowski, Nebraska; Cotie McMahon, Ohio State; Laila Phelia, Michigan; Serah Williams, Wisconsin; Shyanne Sellers, Julie Ayrault, Michigan State; Sara Scalia, Indiana.

Second Team

Hannah Stuelke, Iowa; Jaz Shelley, Nebraska; Destiny Adams, Rutgers; Makira Cook, Illinois; Moira Joyner, Michigan State; Chloe Moore-McNeil, Indiana; Celeste Taylor, Ohio State; Kate Martin, Iowa; Jakia Brown-Turner, Maryland; Ashley Owusu, Penn State; DeeDee Hageman, Michigan State; Taylor Theirry, Ohio State.

All-Defensive Team

Celeste Taylor, Ohio State; Leilani Kapinus, Penn State; Chloe Moore-McNeil, Indiana; Serah Williams, Wisconsin; Mackenzie Holmes, Indiana.

All-Freshman Team

Natalie Potts, Nebraska; Grace Grocholski, Minnesota; Mary Ashley Stevenson, Purdue; Gretchen Dolan, Illinois; Logan Nissley, Nebraska.

Player of the year — Caitlin Clark, Iowa (unanimous)

Defensive player of the year — Celeste Taylor, Ohio State

Freshman of the year — Natalie Potts, Nebraska

Sixth player of the year — Theryn Hallock, Michigan State

Coach of the year — Kevin McGuff, Ohio State

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com