The Caitlin Clark countdown to an all-time record: 810 points to Kelsey Plum

IOWA CITY — Caitlin Clark won’t be chasing points, nor counting them down.

“I’m not actively seeking out (the national career scoring record),” the reigning national player of the year said. “But I know that I probably have a chance to break it.

“If I continue to be the player I am, it will probably come.”

Entering her fourth (but not necessarily final) season at the University of Iowa, Clark has scored 2,717 points.

Three major milestones are in her future, assuming she scores at her career pace of 27 points per game.

* The Iowa record of 2,804 points, set by Megan Gustafson in 2019 (and considered unbreakable at the time) should fall in the Hawkeyes’ third or fourth game of the season.

* Only 13 Division-I players have scored 3,000 points. Clark should get there in early December. Maybe at Ames or at Madison, Wis.

* Then there’s the biggie. Kelsey Plum (Washington, 2013-17) is the all-time NCAA leader at 3,527 points.

Clark correctly estimated that she could break that mark at the end of the regular season or in the Big Ten tournament.

“I love Kelsey Plum,” Clark said. “She’s somebody I’ve kind of idolized.”

Four years at Iowa for Caitlin Clark? Or five?

Clark will be asked repeatedly whether she intends to spend a fifth winter with the Hawkeyes, in 2024-25.

“I’m going to go based on my gut,” she said. “I’ll know when I know, whether to stay or to go. I kind of feel like it’s the recruiting process again.”

If Clark stays, she’ll be joined by one of the top freshman classes in the nation, which features four top-100 prospects.

If she goes, she is the likely No. 1 selection in the 2024 WNBA Draft.

She told The Gazette in August that she was “a 6” on a scale of 1 to 10 in likelihood in staying.

Recommended Reading

Best thing about Caitlin Clark and Hawkeyes: They play with joy

Wednesday, she said, “When I know, all of you will know.”

Hannah Stuelke at the free throw line: ‘Just focus and shoot it’

As a freshman, Hannah Stuelke gave the Hawkeyes an uncommon athlete, a 6-foot-3 power forward that could soar toward the rim and outrun most guards.

But there was a glaring deficiency. Stuelke shot 46.0 percent from the free throw line.

“I’d get so nervous,” she said. “I would think, ‘oh, no, I’m at the line again.’”

Her goal for this season — “70-75 percent” — would be a massive improvement and would allow her to stay on the floor late in a tight game.

“It’s just a matter of focusing and shooting it,” Stuelke said.

No brace for Kylie Feuerbach

Kylie Feuerbach is going to take the bare-legged approach for her return to active duty.

A junior guard, Feuerbach was sidelined throughout Iowa’s Final Four run last year due to a torn ACL in her right knee.

“It was a long, long year,” she said. “But it was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever been around.”

Feuerbach and Coach Lisa Bluder both proclaimed the knee at 100 percent, and Feuerbach will eschew a bulky brace on it, at least for now.

“Some people wear them, some people don’t,” she said. “I feel good without it. If I overthink it, I might overcompensate.”

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com