SI:AM | Two Records in One Night for Caitlin Clark

Plus, which NFL players could get the franchise tag?

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I know you’ll miss me but there will be no SI:AM on Monday because of the holiday. I’ll be back Tuesday as usual.

In today’s SI:AM:

⛹️‍♀️ Caitlin Clark stands alone

🤔 Where should LeBron play?

🐅 Tiger’s so-so return

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3,569 points

I knew all week that I was going to lead Friday’s newsletter with Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark’s record-breaking game against the Michigan Wolverines. Her 31 points against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Sunday left her just eight points shy of Kelsey Plum’s NCAA Division I women’s career scoring record. Clark can score eight points in her sleep. There was no doubt she was going to break the record last night. And indeed she did, hitting the record-setting basket just over two minutes into the game.

But while it was a foregone conclusion that Clark would set the record, the way she did it was absolutely remarkable. And it wasn’t even the only record she set last night.

We’ll start with the record-breaking shot itself. Clark is a superstar not just because she scores in bunches, but because she does so with flair. She takes shots no other player would dare to take—and makes them. She’s attempting a preposterous 13.5 three-point shots per game this season and has attempted 351 total threes. That’s 115 more than any other player in the country. So it should come as no surprise that Clark’s record-setting basket was a three. But not just any three.

The shot that gave Clark the record was a pull-up three in transition from about 40 feet. She got the ball behind the half-court line, took dribbles and fired without hesitation. Nothing but net. (Watch the play here.) It was fitting that Clark broke the record with the kind of shot that has become her hallmark, the sort of daring attempt that has attracted sold-out crowds all around the country during what is likely her final college season.

Clark said as much after the game.

“I mean, you all knew I was gonna shoot a logo three for the record,” she told reporters.

Clark wasn’t done putting on a show, either. She went on to score 49 points, setting a new Iowa program record for points in a game, and also added 13 assists. She scored or assisted on 79 of Iowa’s 106 points, the most points accounted for by any D-I women‘s basketball player in the last 25 years, according to Opta Stats.

Clark’s total currently sits at 3,569 points, 42 more than Plum scored during her time with the Washington Huskies. Next up for Clark is Lynette Woodard’s women’s college basketball record of 3,649 points, which she set while playing for the Kansas Jayhawks in the AIAW, before the NCAA began sponsoring women’s sports. The overall D-I career scoring record, which is held by Pete Maravich, is also well within reach. Clark currently trails Maravich by just 98 points. With four regular season games remaining, plus the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments, Clark will have no trouble passing Pistol Pete. Comparing her accomplishments to Maravich isn’t exactly apples to apples, though. Maravich played before the NCAA allowed freshmen to compete (limiting him to just three seasons) and before the advent of the three-point shot. He also played when the SEC was still mostly segregated. But it would be silly to waste too much time debating who is the greater player instead of just appreciating them both.

The one record that seems safe is Travis Grant’s all-time, all-division NCAA career scoring record. Grant, who played at Kentucky State from 1968 to ’72, holds the Division II record with 4,045 points.

Clark has all the individual accolades a player could ever dream of, but she’s still chasing that ultimate team accomplishment: a national title. She led the Hawkeyes all the way to the national championship game last year, averaging 31.3 points per game in six tournament games, but Iowa fell to the LSU Tigers.

Iowa is a legitimate title contender this year. With last night’s win, the Hawkeyes improved to 22–3 on the season (12–2 in Big Ten play). They’re tied for second place in the conference behind the Ohio State Buckeyes (13–1). Barring a disastrous finish to the season, Iowa, currently ranked No. 4 in the AP poll and No. 5 by the NCAA’s selection committee, should have at least a No. 2 seed. If Ohio State falters, it would clear the path for a No. 1 seed. Either way, Iowa is in position to make a deep tournament run. That’s something every fan should be rooting for, if only to have an opportunity to see Clark’s spectacular college career extend a little longer.

The best of Sports Illustrated

• Emma Baccellieri reflected on Clark’s record night and how far the Iowa star has come from a freshman season played in empty gyms.
• Before Clark’s big game last night, Baccellieri also compiled a list of the 10 best shots of the Iowa star’s career.
• With rampant speculation if LeBron James is content with the Lakers, Rohan Nadkarni has a few suggestions for where he should play next season.
• Gilberto Manzano has a list of NFL players who could get the franchise tag this offseason.
• Bob Harig followed Tiger Woods yesterday at Riviera, where he posted a 1-over 72 and had a horrific shank on the final hole. Woods spoke openly after his round about what led to that terrible shot.
• Georgia State is the latest college football team to see its head coach leave for a lower position at a bigger school.
• Rob Manfred announced that he will step down as MLB commissioner at the end of his current term.

The top five...

… things I saw last night:

5. The bizarre reason the Fairleigh Dickinson–LIU men’s basketball game was delayed. FDU players got stuck in an elevator coming up from the locker room. Here’s the footage of the players being freed. FDU went on to win in overtime.

4. Sam Burns’s par save from the bunker after a horrendous first sand shot.

3. An amazing glove save by Nico Daws.

2. Doc Rivers’s quote after the Bucks lost to the lowly Grizzlies in their last game before the All-Star break.

1. Xander Rice’s long game-winner for Monmouth.

SIQ

On this day in 1972, Wilt Chamberlain became the first NBA player to reach the 30,000-point plateau. Who was the most recent player to reach that mark? (Hint: Only eight players in league history have scored at least 30,000 points.)

• Kevin Durant
• Carmelo Anthony
• LeBron James
• Dirk Nowitzki

Yesterday’s SIQ: On Feb. 15, 1987, PGA Tour pro Craig Stadler was disqualified from a tournament for an overlooked violation involving what object?

• A golf cart
• A towel
• A cigarette
• A water bottle

Answer: A towel. During the third round of the tournament, Stadler, who began the day as the co-leader, hit a tee shot that came to rest under branches of a tree. The ball’s placement meant that his only possible play was to take a swing from his knees. With the ground wet from the previous night’s rain, Stadler laid a towel down to kneel on so he wouldn’t get his pants wet. Stadler was able to save par on the hole and eventually finished in a tie for second place after a final-round playoff.

But after the conclusion of the final round, Stadler was informed that he was being disqualified because he had signed an inaccurate scorecard for the third round. His use of the towel should have resulted in a two-stroke penalty for illegally building his stance. Tournament officials only became aware of the overlooked infraction when a TV viewer called in to note that Stadler had broken the rules.

According to PGA member Pete Trenham, the person who called in to report Stadler’s infraction was Robert “Skee” Riegel, a PGA pro from the Philadelphia area. Riegel was watching Sunday’s broadcast of the final round when he saw Stadler hitting with the towel under his knees. Unaware that the footage was a replay and not from Sunday’s round, Riegel called the PGA to try to alert Stadler to the rule so that he wouldn’t sign an inaccurate scorecard after his round. Unfortunately, Riegel instead wound up informing officials that Stadler had already signed for an inaccurate score on Saturday, and thus he was disqualified. Stadler wound up forfeiting a second-place check for $37,333.33, worth about $100,000 today.