Iowa’s Caitlin Clark Adds Another Honor, Wins Honda Sport Award
There's nothing Caitlin Clark can't do on a basketball court, and the nation finally got the message this season, as she continues to rake in the awards.
Clark, an Iowa native, was announced as the winner of the Honda Sport Award for Basketball today. She was picked in a vote from the administrators of more than 1,000 NCAA member schools. Other finalists were Aliyah Boston (South Carolina), Mackenzie Holmes (Indiana) and Maddy Siegrist (Villanova). Winning the award paves the way for Clark to receive an even bigger honor in a couple of months.
Chris Voelz, Executive Director of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) named Clark as the winner of the award this morning. The Honda Sport Award salutes "the best of the best in collegiate athletics". It's been awarded for the last 47 years to the top women's athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports.
Since Clark won the Honda Sport Award for Basketball, she is now a finalist for the 2023 Honda Cup. It will be presented to the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year during a live show in June on CBS Sports Network. The ceremony will air Monday, June 26 at 8 p.m., Iowa time. Iowans will be watching.
If Clark isn't named the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year, I think it will be a big surprise. She has captured the Naismith, Wooden, and Wade Trophy and was also named the Associated Press and USBWA Ann Drysdale Player of the Year. Clark has won the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award two years in a row and is the first player to ever win the Dawn Staley Award three times.
Anyone who follows women's college basketball knows the impact Clark has had on the sport, especially at the University of Iowa.
Earlier this week on KCRG-TV 9.2's On Iowa Live, Iowa assistant coach Jan Jensen perfectly summed up what Clark has done for the Hawkeyes: "It was the perfect storm of this kid who has the audacity to sign with us and then tell the world, 'You know what, I'm going to Iowa because I want to take 'em to a Final Four.' So to have someone like Cailtin say, 'Hey I believe I'm it. I wanna be it. And by the way, I wanna bring everybody along with me,' that is amazing, and I'm beyond thankful and I hope we can continue to rock it."
In addition to her incredible numbers and accolades for her basketball ability, Clark is a two-time First Team Academic All-American and won the 2023 CSC Academic All-America of the Year. The joy she's brought to the people and children of Iowa is just as beautiful as all of the above.