Caitlin Clark has had a pretty successful year-- and that's putting it lightly.
Clark, over the past 12 calendar months, has become college basketball's all-time leading scorer, has gone to her second-straight Final Four, was drafted first overall in the WNBA Draft, became the WNBA Rookie of the Year, became TIME Magazine's Athlete of the Year, and is now named the AP Female Athlete of the Year.
Clark got the nod over Olympians Simone Biles and Imane Khelif. Clark received over half of the vote herself.
Clark has not only seen tremendous success on the court. While becoming a top-10 scorer and assist leader in a rookie season is an achievement in itself, what Clark has done for women's sports and the WNBA has been remarkable.
Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes currently are participants in the four most-viewed women's college basketball games of all time. Clark and the Fever set new WNBA records in viewership, attendance, and merchandise sales. The Fever, on the road, have been one of the hottest tickets in sports.
Away from basketball, Clark has improved the optics on women's basketball in the media. She has appeared in several advertisements for brands like State Farm, Nike, and Gatorade. She played a round of golf with the current World #1 Nelly Korda, attracting hundreds of spectators. ESPN reported that the crowd Clark drew on the course was larger than most rounds on the PGA Tour.
The WNBA is now planning on sending Clark and the Indiana Fever overseas to compete in front of a global audience-- all this to say that Clark has had one heck of a year.
She now has yet another piece of hardware for her brand new-- yet already fairly full-- trophy case.