“JuJu Watkins coming for that title”: College hoops fans react as Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Plum’s NCAA legacies get compared

Geoff
From left: Kelsey Plum, JuJu Watkins and Caitlin Clark (Image Source: IMAGN)
From left: Kelsey Plum, JuJu Watkins and Caitlin Clark. (Image Source: IMAGN)

College basketball fans expressed their opinions on social media on who, between Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Plum, is the best scorer of all time. Plum initially held the NCAA Division I women's basketball scoring title, amassing 3527 points when she ended her NCAA stint with Washington in 2017. The 5-foot-8 guard was 270 points shy of Pete Maravich's all-time scoring record encompassing all genders.

Plum held the women's scoring title until Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark broke that mark in 2024. Clark didn't just break the women's all-time record (she passed Plum on Feb. 15, 2024, with a 49-point outing), she surged past Maravich's hallowed all-gender scoring mark in the Hawkeyes' last Big 10 regular-season home game against Ohio State on Mar. 3.

Clark made it to the NCAA tournament and then guided Iowa to the national championship game for the second straight year, eventually losing to South Carolina in the final. At the end of her NCAA career, the 6-foot superstar finished with 3951 points.

Overtime posted photos of Plum and Clark on Instagram in their college uniforms and captioned:

"Greatest college scorer of all time?"

College basketball enthusiasts had mixed opinions with some picking Plum over Clark due to her more polished skills. While one other fan said that Clark had a "better mental game":

"they weee just talking about most scoring not the best player but also Caitlin Clark has better mental game than Kelsey plum not saying Kelsey plum isn't better"
Fan Reactions No. 1 (Image Source: @overtime/Instagram
Fan Reactions No. 1 (Image Source: @overtime/Instagram

Other fans, however, were aware that USC's JuJu Watkins is giving her chase for Clark's record. They believe the 6-foot-2 sophomore will pass Clark's record after her college basketball stint is done. One fan said:

"CC then Plum, but JuJu coming for that title next"
Fan reaction No. 2 (Image Source: @overtime/Instagram)
Fan reaction No. 2 (Image Source: @overtime/Instagram)

Watkins scored her 1000th career point during the second half of USC's 81-50 win over Santa Clara. The 6-2 guard achieved the milestone in her 38th game to tie the fourth-fastest scoring mark in NCAA Division I history. Clark reached her 1000th point in her 40th game.


Ball touches and difficult competition could affect JuJu Watkins' scoring title quest

In 44 games, JuJu Watkins has amassed 1166 points but her scoring mark would depend on how coach Lindsay Gottlieb utilizes her in the next two seasons.

This season, Watkins is averaging 24.6 points, as the Trojans divide their touches on the guard and transfer forward Kiki Iriafen, who was acquired from Stanford via the transfer portal.

The competition also gets tougher for Watkins, as USC debuted in the tougher Big 10 Conference this season after transferring from Pac-12. The conference has a strong lineup of teams, featuring UCLA, Ohio State, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan State and Maryland.

The teams would try to stop Watkins on offense in the regular season and work their way to beat USC to secure a better seeding in the NCAA Tournament.

It would take a lot of effort and possibly luck for JuJu Watkins to eclipse Caitlin Clark's record but her current scoring pace seems to keep everyone believing that everything's possible.

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Edited by Hitesh Nigam
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