STEELE SPORTS
University of Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark recently broke the NCAA men’s and women’s all-time scoring record with her 3,668th point, moving her past the legendary “Pistol” Pete Maravich in the record books.
Clark’s rise to the top of college basketball has been astronomical, to say the least; however, something that has caught my attention recently is the controversy about whether Clark’s record is fully legitimate due to Maravich playing without the three-point line.
Maravich managed to score 3,667 points for the Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers from 1967-70 and did so without the aid of the three-point line.
While I can understand the call for an argument here, I don’t think it holds up as well as one might hope.
The three-point line was only universally accepted by the NCAA in 1986, a whole 16 years after Maravich’s career at LSU.
While I have no doubts Maravich could have utilized the three-point line to his advantage, I think we need to look further into how the game has changed over the past few decades.
One mind-blowing fact that I recently saw via Sports Illustrated is that the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green has made more career three-point shots than NBA legend Larry Bird.
Before my Bird fans come after me about the three-point line affecting his career stats, it should be noted that the NBA implemented the three-point line in 1979 – Bird’s rookie season.
I’d like to think that there’s no debate that Bird is the better player in this equation, but if this statistic carries any merit, it’s that three-point shooting has recently become a more vital part of high-level athletes’ games.
If you were to look at stats from sports-reference.com’s all-time three-point field goal attempts list, you would see that nine of the top 10 career three-point shooters in NCAA history played in either 2010 or later.
The lone name outside of this metric – Chicago State’s David Holston – played in 2008-09.
Simply put, the game has evolved over decades to become what it is now, and players who have adapted are reaping the benefits.
Clark’s record should not be put into question by doubters because of any certain advantage she might have had over those before her.
The scoring record stood from 1970 until 2024, with the three-point line being a part of the college game since 1986.
Clark’s record is not merely a result of fortunate timing, it’s a milestone accomplished by hard work and tremendous skill.