There's no question that Caitlin Clark is the best women's college basketball player in the country, at least in terms of the eye test. Anybody who has watched Clark play — whether in person or on TV — understands they're witnessing greatness whenever she's on the floor.
This sentiment is supported by Clark's stats — specifically, her current 31.3 points per game (which leads the country) and her 7.3 assists per game (which is third best in the NCAA).
Yet, according to a couple of advanced stats, Clark isn't the best player in women's college basketball this season.
Instead, these stats say it's Cameron Brink, Stanford's standout forward and projected top 3 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft.
While the 6-foot-4 forward's 18.5 points and 11.2 rebounds per game for Stanford this season are certainly impressive, multiple advanced metrics — such as Player Efficiency Rating (PER), win shares per 40 minutes, and offensive win shares per 40 minutes — have her as college basketball's best.
Compared the YTD stats for all the players mentioned in this ESPN's POTY article:
- Pili, Brink and Clark have the highest efficiency per game (Cameron Brink blows away the field on an EFF/40 min basis)
- Brink is the only player consistently strong on both offense and defense https://t.co/FtGVjD0f2w pic.twitter.com/ZIDHCqwvDO— Chris La Puma? (@ChrisLaPuma) December 15, 2023
The biggest reason for Brink's eye-popping efficiency and win share stats is her dominance of the paint, on offense and defense alike. On offense, Brink's 57.9% field goal percentage suggests that she only takes shots that she's likely to make (and usually does).
Considering that Brink is a forward — and therefore doesn't have the ball in her hands as much as, say, Clark — this also means she won't turn the ball over nearly as often, which helps her efficiency rating and win share.
But what sets Brink apart from Clark and the rest of college basketball (in terms of advanced stats) is her defense. While Clark is no slouch on D, Brink's paint presence and shot blocking ability (her whopping 3.47 blocks per game is third best in the country) makes her a menace on defense that Clark — or anybody else, for that matter — can't contend with.
Then again, not everything that's valuable in sports can be measured with statistics. Clark's many intangible assets — such as her leadership, clutch shooting and ability to harness an arena's energy in her favor — makes her impact on Iowa second to none. Yet, what Brink is doing this season (and has done throughout her whole Stanford career) also deserves praise.
Perhaps we'll get to see Clark's fourth-ranked, 15-1 Iowa team square off against Brink's eighth-ranked, 14-1 Stanford squad at some point in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. If not, we'll surely see these two superstars competing in the WNBA for years to come.
