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After Dawn Staley claimed the women’s college basketball GOAT needed to have a championship to their name, Iowa star Caitlin Clark shared her opinion on the matter.
Per ESPN’s Andrea Adelson, Clark said earning that status doesn’t come down to how many games you won, but rather the legacy that you left behind.
“I’ve played basketball at this university for four years, and for it to come down to two games and that be whether or not I’m proud of myself and proud of the way I’ve carried myself and proud of the way I’ve impacted people in their lives, I don’t think that’s a fair assessment,” Clark said.
“I don’t want my legacy to be, ‘Oh, Caitlin won X amount of games,’ or ‘Caitlin scored X amount of points.’ I hope it’s what I was able to do for the game of women’s basketball. I hope it is the young boys and young girls that are inspired to play this sport or dream to do whatever they want to do in their lives. For it to come down to 40 minutes and for me to validate myself within 40 minutes, I don’t think that’s a fair assessment.”
Clark’s comments came after Staley chimed in on the debate. The South Carolina head coach, who had an outstanding career at Virginia, said she believes a title is needed to earn GOAT status.
“I was really good in college, never won a championship,” Staley said. “You’ve got to win a championship. That’s me personally. I had a great career. But it’s always, did you win a championship?”
Clark has made a strong case to be considered the GOAT, leading the NCAA in career points with 3,921, winning multiple Player of the Year awards and notching dozens more accolades across her career.
However, the one thing she is missing is a national title. She led the Hawkeyes to the championship game last year, but fell short against LSU. Now, she’ll have another chance to claim a title as Iowa faces South Carolina on Sunday.
Clark and Iowa have a big challenge at hand against the undefeated Gamecocks. South Carolina cruised to a win in the Final Four and has plenty of momentum heading into the championship game.
But Clark is looking to close out her career on a positive note, and Staley’s comments about needing a championship to become the GOAT could serve as motivation.
Sunday’s national championship game will tip off at 3 p.m. ET at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
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