Diana Taurasi is one of the greatest basketball players ever. She has won at every level and taken home several individual accolades. When she announced her retirement, it sent shockwaves through the world of women’s basketball. Taurasi played at UConn from 2000 to 2004 and then in the WNBA until 2024. Many fans do not even remember a time when Taurasi was not at the forefront of women’s basketball.
As a result, her legacy is still being discussed, and rightfully so. ESPN’s Ari Chambers, Alexa Philippou, and Same Ravech ranked the top five women’s college basketball players in honor of Taurasi’s career. It was an incredibly challenging exercise. There are so many great players to choose from that narrowing it down to five always means someone worthy will be left off the list.
Chambers, Philippou, and Ravech eventually decided on Breanna Stewart, Candace Parker, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, and Cheryl Miller as their top five. While all five are great players and certainly have a case to be named as one of the top women’s college players ever, the list is missing one big name—the all-time leading scorer in women’s college basketball.
Caitlin Clark is still not getting the respect she deserves
Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark was a part of the discussion. After putting Stewart at the number one spot, the analysts decided to start working their way backward and select the fifth-best player next. Ari Chambers put forth Cheryl Miller’s name, and Same Ravech suggested Caitlin Clark.
However, Chambers argued that Clark could not be on the list because she had never won a championship in college. While Chambers did give Clark credit for her impact on women’s basketball and her individual talent, she was ultimately left off the list.
Clark may not have won a championship, but she did plenty of other great things in college. Most notably, she broke the scoring record. On top of that feat, she also led Iowa to two NCAA Finals, was the NCAA scoring and assist leader three times each, was the Naismith College Player of the Year twice, got three unanimous first-team All-American selections, and was named the Big Ten Player of the Year three times over her college career. She had a great individual career and also led her teams to wins, even if it was not enough for a championship.
As if that was not enough yet, Clark drew plenty of fans to women’s basketball—in college as well as the WNBA. Teams are still moving games against the Fever to bigger arenas.
Maybe it will take winning a WNBA championship for Clark to finally get all the credit she truly deserves.