Woodard eyes ‘respect’ as Clarke sets scoring marks
As Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark storms toward more college basketball history in the final games of the Hawkeyes season, women’s basketball legend Lynette Woodard is asking that the NCAA shows a bit of “respect” to the history of women’s hoops.
While Clark took hold of the NCAA women’s basketball all-time scoring record earlier this month from Kelsey Plum and now sits at 3,617 points, she has not surpassed Woodard’s career points record of 3,649, which the NCAA does not recognize.
That is because Woodard, who played at Kansas from 1978-81, competed in an era when women’s basketball was sanctioned by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) and not the NCAA.
“I want the NCAA governing body to know that they should respect the [AIAW] players, respect the history. Include us and our accomplishments,” Woodard said during the ESPN2 broadcast of Kansas vs. Kansas State on Sunday. “This is the era of diversity, equity and inclusion. They should include us. We deserve it.”
The NCAA has had an inconsistent policy in terms of what records it does and does not recognize from that era and Clark’s record season has drawn more of a spotlight on the issue, especially as she now chases Pete Maravich’s all-time scoring record of 3,667 points.
Woodard isn’t mad about Clark’s historic season, but the legendary women’s basketball player is using the moment to point out the issue.
“Caitlin is having a wonderful, sensational career, and when there is a high tide, all boats float,” Woodard told The Washington Post. “There are so many things she is making people aware of, and I think it’s a great thing. But I just hope that if the call letters ever changed on ‘NCAA,’ her records might be blended.”
The expectation is that Clark will pass Woodard’s record and likely surpass Maravich as well with Iowa having two more games left in its regular season, including a home game on Sunday.