JuJU Watkins chasing CC

[wwhawk]

Clark's stats:
Year Points Points per game
Frosh 799 26.6
Soph 863 27.0
Jr 1,055 27.8
Sr 1,234 31.6
TOTAL 3,951

With her sophomore season ended total of 1,709, Watkins is 2,242 points behind Clark.

And copying and pasting #1DieHardHawk from 12/27/24:

"I was referring to records and statistics, and pointing out that breaking the scoring record in and of itself will not be the bar when comparing any player to Clark.

If you combine points, assists, rebounds and steals, Caitlin's collegiate number is 6,295 total points. Another statistic to throw in there is 17 triple-doubles.

Watkins is a great player, and may prove me wrong, but I'll happily go on record saying that she will never even come close to that."

To her considerable credit, (and sure, with some good fortune), CC stayed healthy her whole Iowa career. Another amazing feat to add to her lengthy list of credits.

 

[Zstatman]

Interesting, so Juju is ahead of CC after just two years.

 

[guffus]

Clark's stats:
Year Points Points per game
Frosh 799 26.6
Soph 863 27.0
Jr 1,055 27.8
Sr 1,234 31.6
TOTAL 3,951

With her sophomore season ended total of 1,709, Watkins is 2,242 points behind Clark.

And copying and pasting #1DieHardHawk from 12/27/24:

"I was referring to records and statistics, and pointing out that breaking the scoring record in and of itself will not be the bar when comparing any player to Clark.

If you combine points, assists, rebounds and steals, Caitlin's collegiate number is 6,295 total points. Another statistic to throw in there is 17 triple-doubles.

Watkins is a great player, and may prove me wrong, but I'll happily go on record saying that she will never even come close to that."

To her considerable credit, (and sure, with some good fortune), CC stayed healthy her whole Iowa career. Another amazing feat to add to her lengthy list of credits.

DieHardHawk nailed it. Very unfortunate for JuJu. But it's true. One of the keys to Caitlin Clark's success was never having any serious injury in her entire college career.

 

[wwhawk]

Interesting, so Juju is ahead of CC after just two years.

Well, that's one way of looking at it.

Watkins has 1709 points, which is 47 ahead of the 1,662 Clark had after her Soph season. That's less than a 2 game "lead". Clark upper her scoring as a Jr and as a Sr. Looking at it going forward, Watkins needs 2,242 to catch Clark. or an average of 1,121 per season. JuJu's first two seasons average was 854.5.

I'm not a doctor, and i didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but if what i read online is correct (yah, make your own joke there!), it takes a basketball player 8 to 12 month to recover from an ACL tear. So it would seem likely Watkins will miss a month or more next season. Catching Clark seems unlikely.

 

[PCHawk]

1662

Thanks. Clark also played I think 7 less games the covid year so they are on a very similar pace. Clark finished so stron her last two years it will be really tough to catch her missing any time next year.

 

[Zstatman]

I think we all agree Juju won't be catching CC.

The W is currently renegotiating their Collective Bargaining Agreement. I don't know any of the details, but I suspect one of them will be to allow college players to go pro earlier than the current four years.

I've read where Juju has stated she would like o go pro earlier than currently allowed. Anybody's guess what the acl might do to that.

 

[thedukeofearl]

Unfortunate break for JuJu

She is certainly one of the best scorers ever in college, but she is certainly
not the complete player Caitlin is

Caitlin's assists are legendary; she is on a level with Larry Bird and Magic

In my humble opinion

 

[CP87]

Thanks. Clark also played I think 7 less games the covid year so they are on a very similar pace. Clark finished so stron her last two years it will be really tough to catch her missing any time next year.

Watkins has played 67 games. Clark played 62 over her first 2 seasons.

Clark played a near max number of games over her last 2 years (77 games, total). She averaged 29.7 pts/game over that stretch, accumulating an astronomical 2,289 points.

 

[M1911A1Hawkeye]

So sorry to hear what happened to JuJu.

 

[trj]

Given CC’s popularity it is hard to say she is underrated. But her durability is amazing. I know she had the ankle injury, but given the amount of games and minutes she played, the potential of the ACL injury was always in the back of your mind.

Not being a misogynist or sexist, you always worry about the ACL tear in women’s basketball…you just do.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Given CC’s popularity it is hard to say she is underrated. But her durability is amazing. I know she had the ankle injury, but given the amount of games and minutes she played, the potential of the ACL injury was always in the back of your mind.

Not being a misogynist or sexist, you always worry about the ACL tear in women’s basketball…you just do.

Nothing sexist about it...it's a physiological fact. Female athletes with their wider hip and pelvic structures put more torque on their knees when making athletic moves and are more susceptible to ACL tears and other leg issues.