Michigan
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark sets NCAA scoring record against Michigan
Iowa City, Iowa – Caitlin Clark broke the NCAA women’s career scoring record, making a long 3-pointer in the first quarter for No. 4 Iowa against Michigan on Thursday night.
Clark went into the game needing eight points to pass Kelsey Plum’s total of 3,527.
She wasted no time, making her first three shots – a layup and two 3s – and scoring Iowa’s first eight points. The record-breaker was a 3 off the dribble on the left wing near the Mediacom Court logo with 7:48 left in the first quarter.
Clark and her dynamic game have captivated the nation for two seasons. Last year, she led the Hawkeyes to the NCAA title game and was named AP player of the year. More than just her pursuit of the record, her long 3-pointers and flashy passes have raised interest in the women’s game to unprecedented levels. Arenas have been sold out for her games, home and away, and television ratings have never been higher.
It’s all been more than Clark imagined when the 6-foot guard from West Des Moines stayed in state and picked Iowa over Notre Dame in November 2019.
“I dreamed of doing really big things, playing in front of big crowds, going to the Final Four, maybe not quite on this level,” Clark said. “I think that’s really hard to dream. You can always exceed expectations, even your own, and I think that’s been one of the coolest parts.”
Though her basketball obligations and endorsement deals (State Farm ads, etc.) have put demands on her time, she said she is the same person who showed up on campus four years ago.
“I just go about my business as I did when I was a freshman during COVID,” said Clark, a senior who still has another season of eligibility remaining, if she wants it. “Sure, my life has kind of changed somewhat. I still live the exact same way. I still act like a 22-year-old college kid.”
She said she still cleans her apartment, does laundry, plays video games, hangs out with friends and does schoolwork.
“The best way to debrief and get away from things is getting off your phone, getting off social media and enjoying what’s around you and the people around you and the moments that are happening,” she said.
Her run to the record could have come earlier, but it arrived back at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, where ticket resale prices for the Michigan game ranged from hundreds of dollars into the thousands. Fans again showed up early outside the arena, many wearing black-and-gold No. 22 jerseys and holding signs paying homage.
Mya Anderson and her friend, Ellie Steffensen, both 12, and their moms made the six-hour drive from Canton, South Dakota, to see Clark break the record.
“I think she’s inspired a lot of people,” Mya said.
“Yeah, a lot of little girls,” Ellie added.
Mya and Ellie both play basketball, and both said they try to do some of the things Clark does on the court, like shoot long 3s.
“But I’m not as good as her,” Ellie said.
Kelly Jared of Manchester, Iowa, said she likes everything about Clark and expects her impact on the women’s game to endure.
“She’s taken it to a new level,” Jared said. “The aspirations and goals that the current players and future players have, she has set that bar way up in the sky. And it’s perfect, because they will work to attain them. As as far as the fans, there’s excitement for the people who never watched women’s basketball. My son isn’t a basketball fan, but he watched Caitlin last year and he was sold. He absolutely loves her.”
Unlike Sunday’s loss at Nebraska, when Fox drew almost 2 million viewers for the game, this one was streamed on Peacock.
Plum set the previous NCAA record in 2017 as a senior at Washington. Clark’s next target is the all-time major women’s college scoring record of 3,649 points by Kansas star Lynette Woodard from 1977-81. During Woodard’s era, women’s sports were governed by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. Pearl Moore of Francis Marion holds the overall women’s record with 4,061 points from 1975-79.
“I understand the magnitude of this,” Clark said. “It’s come along with how my four years have gone, and it’s crazy looking back on how fast everything has gone. I’m really thankful and grateful.”
Michigan’s 2027 class experienced a blow on Sunday when three-star Las Vegas (Nev.) Centennial safety Maxwell Miles announced he was flipping to Minnesota.
Miles’ decision to join the Wolverines took place in March during the program’s first commitment surge of the offseason. He took a visit during spring camp and quickly pledged.
Miles becomes the second safety this cycle this decommit from Michigan following Darrell Mattison flipping to Ole Miss a few weeks ago. Currently, U-M yields 14 commits in 2027 heading into June.
The news came once Miles took an official visit to Minnesota over the weekend, leading to him siding with the Golden Gophers. One of the schools that Miles picked Michigan over included Minnesota, along with Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, and San Diego State. Safeties coach Tyler Stockton was the leading figure in originally landing Miles.
“Me and Coach Stockton have a good relationship,” Miles told Maize n Brew. “He keeps it real with me and pushes me to be better, and I respect that a lot. Same with Coach (Kyle) Whittingham, it’s a strong relationship. He’s someone I can learn a lot from, and I appreciate how he approaches the game with his players.”
Two projected safeties make up Michigan’s 2027 class in four-star Tavares Harrington and three-star Charles Woodson Jr.
Rounding out the group are four-star tight end Colt Lumpris, four-star cornerback Darius Johnson, four-star defensive lineman Xavier Muhammad, four-star wide receiver Quentin Burrell, four-star running back Tyson Robinson, four-star edge rusher Jayce Brewer, four-star offensive lineman Jakari Lipsey, four-star edge rusher Recarder Kitchen, four-star quarterback Kamden Lopati, three-star linebacker Brayden Watson, three-star offensive lineman Sidney Rouleau, three-star running back Lundon Hampton and three-star offensive lineman Louis Esposito.
Rivals lists the class as the 10th-best in the FBS and fourth in the Big Ten.
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s season came to an end just short of reaching the NBA Finals.
After another strong campaign, OKC battled the San Antonio Spurs, but fell in a seven-game series, missing two key players for most of the matchup.
Even with Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell, though, the Thunder’s primary issue against San Antonio was defending superstar Victor Wembanyama. Oklahoma City managed to slow down the 22-year-old in a few matchups, but it ultimately wasn’t enough to win the series.
Mark Daigneault’s team will now head into the offseason with a few opportunites to find answers to this problem, however. In addition to Williams and Mitchell returning to full health, which will be key for OKC, Thomas Sorber, the Thunder’s first-round pick in 2025, should be healthy after missing his entire rookie season with a torn ACL.
Oklahoma City also has two picks in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft, and could add more young pieces to the roster.
A pair of recent mock drafts slotted Michigan big man Aday Mara to OKC, who could be an interesting option to try and combat Wembanyama’s size and length. Mara measured at 7-foot-3 without shoes at the NBA Combine, recording a 7-foot-6 wingspan, 9-foot-9 standing reach and weighing 259 pounds.
Given Wembanyama’s abilities, it seems unlikely that any rookie can fully counteract the MVP Finalist and Defensive Player of the Year, but Mara’s size would give OKC another matchup to try against the Spurs’ standout.
After two seasons at UCLA, Mara had a breakout season with Michigan, averaging 12.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 66.8% from the field. Mara earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and All-Big Ten recognition for his efforts, helping the Wolverines with a national championship in his lone campaign with the team.
Bryan Kalbrosky of USA Today slotted Mara to OKC with the No. 12 overall pick in this summer’s draft, while Cameron Salerno of CBS Sports projected the Thunder to trade the No. 12 and No. 17 selections for the No. 9 overall pick to draft Mara.
Kalbrosky also paired Tennessee’s Nate Ament with Oklahoma City at No. 17 overall. Ament recently said in an interview with Kevin O’Connor that he completed a predraft workout with the Thunder.
Ament measured 6-foot-9-and-a-half without shoes and notched a 6-foot-11-and-a-half wingspan, weighing 210 and recording a standing reach of 9-foot-1-and-a-half at the NBA Combine.
As a freshman at Tennessee, the former five-star recuit averaged 16.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and a steal per game while shooting 39.9% from the field and 33.3% from 3-point range.
Follow
Michigan
Ex-NFL All-Pro unimpressed by Michigan QB Bryce Underwood — who could become backup: ‘Don’t understand’
Former All-Pro NFL safety Eric Weddle is not a believer in Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood.
During an appearance on the “Zero 2 Sixty” podcast, Weddle, who attended the Wolverines’ spring practices, said that it would not be surprising if Michigan’s backup quarterback is playing instead of Underwood come this fall.
“Mark my words, I was out there for spring ball,” Weddle said. “Don’t be surprised if the backup [is] playing early because that Underwood kid, you know, I don’t think he could throw or play quarterback, so we’ll see.”
Weddle, who spent 14 seasons in the NFL with the Chargers, Ravens and Rams, explained that quarterbacks should be taught to play their position first, and be an athlete second, adding that this is what he tells his son, Gaige Weddle, who is a 2028 four-star QB recruit.
“I don’t understand. I don’t understand, like it’s just quarterbacks in general, but I don’t understand how the position is not being taught like from the pocket,” Weddle said. “Like I try to coach Gaige that you are a quarterback first who can be an athlete.
“You’re not an athlete who plays quarterback…You get to the next level, everyone’s as fast as you, everyone’s as strong as you, like your mind, processing, pocket awareness, feel, and getting the ball out on time is what I’ve stressed to him most, as a quarterback.”
Weddle’s comments come after Underwood, the consensus No. 1-ranked 2025 QB recruit out of high school, had a somewhat underwhelming freshman campaign with Michigan.
Through 13 games with the Wolverines, Underwood, 18, threw for 2,428 yards with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions while posting a 60.3 completion percentage, helping lead Michigan to a 9-4 record.
He added 392 rushing yards with six scores on the ground.
Underwood also had a disappointing performance for Michigan in a 41-27 Citrus Bowl loss against Texas, passing for 199 yards — going 23-for-42 — with two touchdowns and three interceptions.
Despite the poor showing, Underwood recently told reporters that he has high expectations for both himself and the Wolverines heading into the 2026 season.
“Just like the whole team, and everything that happened to us even after the season, I had to get over it,” Underwood said on May 21. “That was the only option we had. It’s the only option I had. We went through a lot, but I think we’re going to be more player-led this season.
“I feel like we are more of a team now.”
-
Alaska13 seconds agoReporting From Alaska- Don’t be fooled by ‘Build the Line!’ propaganda
-
Arizona12 minutes agoArizona to start seeing average 100-degree highs ahead of June
-
Arkansas15 minutes agoArkansas baseball notebook: Pitching depth catches up with Razorbacks in Kansas | Whole Hog Sports
-
California20 minutes ago‘Sneaker wave’ sucks California fisherman out to sea
-
Colorado27 minutes ago
Colorado elections clerk set to be released from prison Monday based on her sentence commutation
-
Connecticut30 minutes agoMan shot while riding a moped in North Haven
-
Delaware35 minutes agoWas Taylor Swift in Dewey Beach, Delaware, this weekend? What we know
-
Florida42 minutes agoFlorida tax proposal seeks to eliminate homestead property taxes by 2028
