CLEVELAND (USBWA) – Hailed as a generational player as the most prolific scorer in women’s college basketball history, Iowa guard Caitlin Clark commanded attention not just from Hawkeye opponents but fans as well as she continued to rewrite assorted record books this season. The three-time Big Ten Player of the Year’s iconic season that led Iowa to its third Final Four earned Clark a repeat selection as the winner of the 2023-24 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the USBWA National Player of the Year.
Clark is the seventh player to earn multiple Ann Meyers Drysdale Awards and the first since UConn’s Breanna Stewart won three straight from 2014-16. The 6-0 senior guard from West Des Moines, Iowa, is the second Iowa player to win the award alongside two-time USBWA All-American Megan Gustafson (2019), and that pair are the only Big Ten players to earn it in its 37-year history.
The announcement came today at USBWA's annual awards luncheon in Cleveland, site of the Women’s Final Four. Clark will formally receive the award at the upcoming USBWA College Basketball Awards Banquet on April 17 in St. Louis hosted by the Missouri Athletic Club along with the Tamika Catchings Award winner, USC’s JuJu Watson, and the USBWA Women’s National Coach of Year, Dawn Staley of South Carolina. The USBWA men’s awards winners – Henry Iba Award winner Kelvin Sampson of Houston, Wayman Tisdale Award winner Reed Sheppard of Kentucky, and the Oscar Robertson Trophy winner – will be formally presented there.
This is the third USBWA national award for Clark. In addition to the two Ann Meyers Drysdale Awards, she was the USBWA’s Co-Freshman of the Year in the 2020-21 season sharing the honor with UConn’s Paige Bueckers, the 2021 Drysdale Award winner whom she’ll face in tonight's national semifinal at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN. Clark earned a spot on the weekly Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week list eight times this season and has 15 career weekly award nods.
The award is based on regular-season performance, where Clark led the nation in scoring (32.0) and assists (9.0) per game, three-pointers made (193), three-pointers made per game (5.22) and triple-doubles (6, twice as many as second place). She is the only player in the country averaging more than 26 ppg, 7.0 rpg, and 7.0 apg.
Clark became the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer during the season and is the first Division I women’s basketball player to eclipse 1,000-points in back-to-back seasons. Paced by Clark’s outputs, Iowa (33-4) has recorded 90-plus points in 15 of its last 19 games.
To write about Clark’s numbers is to choose from a buffet of statistical metrics. She is the first Division I player to record 3,800-plus points, 1,000-plus assists and 950-plus rebounds in a career and has a career point total of 3,871 headed into the Final Four. Clark is the only player in major college women’s basketball to lead her conference in scoring and assists in four consecutive seasons, which has led Iowa to championships in the last three Big Ten Tournaments. She is the all-time leader in assists, scoring, field goals, free throws and three pointers at Iowa, which placed a game behind Ohio State for second in the Big Ten in the regular season.
There is not a career scoring breakdown or statistical subset that Clark does not lead. She has an NCAA-best 65 career games with 25-plus points, 5-plus assists, and 5-plus rebounds, and over the last 25 seasons, no one in the men’s or women’s games has recorded more 30-plus point games than Clark’s 57.
Beyond the regular season stats that earned her the award, Clark’s postseason stats are even more outstanding considering the opponents she’s faced. Clark has registered five 40-point performances against AP Top-10 teams, including 41 points in Iowa’s most recent game, a 94-87 win over LSU that sent the Hawkeyes to their third all-time Final Four. It was the 20th game with 30-plus points and 10-plus assists of her career and the third in which she posted a 40-point double-double in an NCAA Tournament game (Elite Eight and National Semifinals in 2023 and Monday’s Elite Eight game vs. LSU).
Another element of Clark’s season was the draw she is for fans. Iowa’s appearances have helped sell out or break attendance records in 35 of its 37 games this season, the only outliers being a pair of early-season neutral-site tournament games in Florida. At home, 22 of the Iowa women’s 24 all-time sellouts inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena have happened in the last three seasons.
Clark is the first Iowa player to earn four USBWA All-America honors as the Hawkeyes’ eighth all-time All-American. She is the USBWA’s fifth four-time All-American, joining former greats Tennessee's Chamique Holdsclaw (1996-99), Oklahoma's Courtney Paris (2006-09), UConn's Maya Moore 2008-11) and South Carolina's Aliyah Boston (2020-23).
The Ann Meyers Drysdale Award is presented annually to the women's national player of the year by the USBWA. Named for the legendary UCLA guard, the award was first presented in the 1987-88 season and formally named in Meyers Drysdale's honor in the 2011-12 season. Ann Meyers Drysdale played at UCLA from 1974-78, which pre-dates the USBWA All-America selections. She was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.
The USBWA was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 800 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America team since the 1956-57 season. For more information on the USBWA and its award programs, contact executive director Malcolm Moran at malcolm@usbwa.com.
ALL-TIME USBWA WOMEN'S NATIONAL PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
ANN MEYERS DRYSDALE AWARD
2023-24: Caitlin Clark, Iowa (G, 6-0, Sr., West Des Moines, Iowa)
2022-23: Caitlin Clark, Iowa (G, 6-0, Jr., West Des Moines, Iowa)
2021-22: Aliyah Boston, South Carolina (F, 6-5, Jr., St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.)
2020-21: Paige Bueckers, UConn (G, 5-10, Fr, Hopkins, Minn.)
2019-20: Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon (G, 5-11, Sr., Walnut Creek, Calif.)
2018-19: Megan Gustafson, Iowa (F, 6-3, Sr., Port Wing, Wis.)
2017-18: A’ja Wilson, South Carolina (F, 6-5, Sr., Hopkins, S.C.)
2016-17: Kelsey Plum, Washington (G, 5-8, Sr., Poway, Calif.)
2015-16: Breanna Stewart, UConn (F, 6-4, Sr., Syracuse, N.Y.)
2014-15: Breanna Stewart, UConn (F, 6-4, Jr., Syracuse, N.Y.)
2013-14: Breanna Stewart, UConn (F, 6-4, So., Syracuse, N.Y.)
2012-13: Brittney Griner, Baylor (C, 6-8, Sr., Houston, Texas)
2011-12: Brittney Griner, Baylor (C, 6-8, Jr., Houston, Texas)
WOMEN'S NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
2010-11: Maya Moore, UConn (F, 6-0, Sr., Lawrenceville, Ga.)
2009-10: Tina Charles, UConn (C, 6-4, Sr., Jamaica, N.Y.)
2008-09: Maya Moore, UConn (F, 6-0, So., Lawrenceville, Ga.)
2007-08: Candace Parker, Tennessee (F, 6-4, Jr., Naperville, Ill.)
2006-07: Candace Parker, Tennessee (F, 6-4, So., Naperville, Ill.)
2005-06: Ivory Latta, North Carolina (G, 5-6, Jr., McConnells, S.C.)
2004-05: Seimone Augustus, LSU (G, 6-1, Jr., Baton Rouge, La.)
2003-04: Alana Beard, Duke (G/F, 5-11, Sr., Shreveport, La.)
2002-03: Diana Taurasi, UConn (G/F, 6-0, Jr., Chino, Calif.)
2001-02: Sue Bird, UConn (G, 5-9, Sr., Syosset, N.Y.)
2000-01: Ruth Riley, Notre Dame (C, 6-5, Sr., Macy, Ind.)
1999-00: Tamika Catchings, Tennessee (F, 6-1, Jr., Duncanville, Texas)
1998-99: Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee (F, 6-2, Sr., Astoria, N.Y.)
1997-98: Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee (F, 6-2, Jr., Astoria, N.Y.)
1996-97: Kate Starbird, Stanford (F/G, 6-2, Sr., Tacoma, Wash.)
1995-96: Saudia Roundtree, Georgia (G, 5-7, Sr., Anderson, S.C.)
1994-95: Rebecca Lobo, UConn (F, 6-4, Sr., Southwick, Mass.)
1993-94: Lisa Leslie, USC (F/C, 6-5, Sr., Inglewood, Calif.)
1992-93: Sheryl Swoopes, Texas Tech (F, 6-2, Sr., Brownfield, Texas)
1991-92: Dawn Staley, Virginia (G, 5-6, Sr., Philadelphia, Pa.)
1990-91: Dawn Staley, Virginia (G, 5-6, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa.)
1989-90: Jennifer Azzi, Stanford (G, 5-9, Sr., Oak Ridge, Tenn.)
1988-89: Clarissa Davis, Texas (F, 6-1, Sr., San Antonio, Texas)
1987-88: Sue Wicks, Rutgers (F, 6-2, Sr., Center Moriches, N.Y.)
BACK-TO-BACK ANN MEYERS DRYSDALE AWARD WINNERS
2023-24: Caitlin Clark, Iowa (G, 6-0, Sr., West Des Moines, Iowa)
2022-23: Caitlin Clark, Iowa (G, 6-0, Jr., West Des Moines, Iowa)
2015-16: Breanna Stewart, UConn (F, 6-4, Sr., Syracuse, N.Y.)
2014-15: Breanna Stewart, UConn (F, 6-4, Jr., Syracuse, N.Y.)
2013-14: Breanna Stewart, UConn (F, 6-4, So., Syracuse, N.Y.)
2012-13: Brittney Griner, Baylor (C, 6-8, Sr., Houston, Texas)
2011-12: Brittney Griner, Baylor (C, 6-8, Jr., Houston, Texas)
2010-11: Maya Moore, UConn (F, 6-0, Sr., Lawrenceville, Ga.)
2008-09: Maya Moore, UConn (F, 6-0, So, Lawrenceville, Ga.)
2007-08: Candace Parker, Tennessee (F, 6-4, Jr., Naperville, Ill.)
2006-07: Candace Parker, Tennessee (F, 6-4, So, Naperville, Ill.)
1998-99: Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee (F, 6-2, Sr., Astoria, N.Y.)
1997-98: Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee (F, 6-2, Jr., Astoria, N.Y.)
1991-92: Dawn Staley, Virginia (G, 5-6, Sr., Philadelphia, Pa.)
1990-91: Dawn Staley, Virginia (G, 5-6, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa.)
ANN MEYERS DRYSDALE AWARD WINNERS FROM THE BIG TEN
2023-24: Caitlin Clark, Iowa (G, 6-0, Sr., West Des Moines, Iowa)
2022-23: Caitlin Clark, Iowa (G, 6-0, Jr., West Des Moines, Iowa)
2018-19: Megan Gustafson, Iowa (F, 6-3, Sr., Port Wing, Wis.)