Kelsey Plum shares her thoughts on Caitlin Clark, who is about to break Plum’s NCAA women’s basketball scoring record.
Kelsey Plum is the only person between Caitlin Clark and the NCAA scoring record.
Plum, who played collegiate women’s basketball at Washington (2013-17) currently holds the NCAA Division I scoring record with 3,527. Clark, a senior at Iowa, sits at a close second with 3,462.
Plum, now with the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces, shared her thoughts with NBC on potentially losing the top spot on the scoring list — and her response may shock you.
"Oh man, I am super happy for her — she can have it,” Plum told NBC at the USA Women’s Basketball training camp on Friday. “I think it is really cool to see her do it, in the fashion she is doing it, bringing attention to the game.”
Clark, who is averaging 32.5 points per game this season, is selling out arenas every time the No. 2 ranked team competes on the road. She has undoubtedly done her part in garnering attention to the sport of women’s basketball -- bringing much popularity to a sport that wasn't always highly sought after.
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But outside of the record, Plum wants to make sure fans and the media remember the NCAA standout is just a human.
"So, the record is great but at the end of the day she is a human being and a person,” Plum said. “We have to make sure we show her a ton of love outside of her performance. At the end of the day, it will come naturally, she is a baller.
While Clark gears up for seven more games with Iowa in the regular season, Plum is setting her sights on the 2024 USA Olympic Qualifying Tournament which will compete from Feb. 8-11 in Antwerp, Belgium.
USA women’s basketball is in pursuit of its eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal as it continues to evaluate the 2021-24 USA Women’s National Team player pool before naming a team for the Paris 2024 Olympics (July 27 - Aug. 11).
