Celebration of Caitlin Clark's past includes glimpse at future with JuJu Watkins
Published 5 February 2025
IOWA CITY, Iowa — It was fitting Iowa retired Caitlin Clark’s jersey the day the Hawkeyes played USC.
The date was chosen because of the symmetry: Feb. 2, or 2/2, which, as anyone not living under a rock the past two years knows, is Clark’s number. But few records stand forever, and the athlete who might one day break Clark’s was there to see first-hand what she’s chasing.
JuJu Watkins set the NCAA freshman scoring record last season with 920 points, and tied for the fourth-fastest player ever to reach 1,000 points. She has scored 1,472 points through her first 55 games, slightly behind Clark’s pace that eventually saw her set the all-time NCAA Division I scoring record with 3,951 points.
“I don't really think about it that often,” Watkins said after Sunday’s game, when she scored 27 in a 76-69 loss to Iowa. “I just try to maximize every game and go in with the same mindset of trying to do what I do, to the best of my ability.
“The ultimate goal is to win, and we will know what history holds when it's all said and done.”
What made Clark’s run so special is that it wasn’t solely about the numbers, it was her swagger. She thought she could hit from anywhere and usually did, draining threes from the logo. She was fiery and talked trash, and she had the game to back it all up. She said she was going to take Iowa to the Final Four and she did. Twice.
Clark’s appeal was magnetic, demanding attention whenever she was playing. And because they watched, it changed some people’s thinking about what women, and women’s athletes in particular, could do.
There’s a ways to go before Watkins reaches Clark’s far-reaching fame, but you can see it building.