DALLAS (March 29, 2023) – Iowa junior guard Caitlin Clark was named the 2023 recipient of the Naismith Trophy as the nation’s outstanding women’s college basketball player, it was announced Wednesday during a press conference at Reunion Tower in Dallas, Texas, site of the 2023 NCAA Women’s Final Four.
 
Clark is the second Big Ten Conference student-athlete chosen for the award, following former Hawkeye All-America post Megan Gustafson, who was selected in 2019. The two-time Big Ten Player of the Year, Clark is also a finalist for every other major national player of the year award this season, many of which will be presented within the next week.
 
A native of West Des Moines, Iowa, Clark is the only player in the country to average more than 20 points (27.3 ppg. – 3rd in nation), five assists (8.6 apg. – 1st in nation) and five rebounds (7.3) per game. She is also the first person in NCAA Division I basketball history (women’s or men’s) to record 900 points and 300 assists in a season (984 points/conference-record 311 assists), a two-time first-team Associated Press All-American (earning this year’s honor unanimously) and she was voted the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America Team Member of the Year.
 
Clark and Iowa have advanced to the Hawkeyes’ second NCAA Women’s Final Four and first since 1993. Iowa (30-6) will take on South Carolina in the second NCAA national semifinal at approximately 9 p.m. (ET) Friday live on ESPN from the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
 
Big Ten Conference (bigten.org) is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching, and public service. Founded in 1896, Big Ten Conference has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in the lives of students competing in intercollegiate athletics and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness, and competitiveness. The broad-based programs of the 14 Big Ten Conference institutions will provide over $200 million in direct financial support to more than 9,800 students for more than 11,000 participation opportunities on 350 teams in 42 different sports. Big Ten Conference sponsors 28 official conference sports, 14 for men and 14 for women, including the addition of men’s ice hockey and men’s and women’s lacrosse since 2013.