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Following her historic tenure at Iowa, Caitlin Clark has become the new standard bearer in women's college basketball. Fans recently chimed in with their thoughts on one longtime analyst's comments regarding her and a new emerging star.
Looking at the current landscape of women's college basketball, JuJu Watkins has emerged as a superstar in the making. Stephen A. Smith has been so impressed with the USC sophomore that he feels she should be talked about to the same degree as Clark.
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Following this bold remark, fans flooded social media with their thoughts on the subject. Some even went as far as to say that Watkins will surpass Caitlin Clark by the time she reaches the WNBA.
While some fans were quick to praise Watkins, others felt it was time to pump the brakes on her hype in regards to being in the same tier as Clark.
"Stop the nonsense. Clark is one of a kind." One fan said.
"the audacity to compare this random to Caitlin," another fan said.
"She’s really good but Caitlin is different," said one fan.
12 games into her sophomore season, Watkins is averaging 24.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists. Earlier this month she had her biggest scoring outburst of the year, erupting for 40 points in a win over California Baptist.
Former NBA All-Star sides with JuJu Watkins over Caitlin Clark
The discourse between Caitlin Clark and JuJu Watkins is far from new, as it first began when the two were in college last year. As the USC guard burst on the scene, one former NBA All-Star made a bold take regarding the two prospects.
While on Shannon Sharpe's NightCap podcast back in March, Gilbert Arenas dove into the debate on Clark and Watkins. He stated the Indiana Fever would regret drafting Clark first overall and that Watkins is clearly the better player.
"If JuJu was allowed to come out in the draft," Arenas said. "Fever will regret that they took Caitlin Clark No. 1. Caitlin is great, she's not JuJu."
"If she ever tries to guard JuJu, it's lunch meat."
There is no denying that Watkins has started off her college career in incredible fashion, but she still has a long way to go to be in the same conversation as Clark. That said, the USC standout has positioned herself nicely to do so by the time she is a senior.
Watkins passed the 1,000-point mark earlier this year and did so in fewer games than Clark. However, the former Iowa star has higher scoring averages across the board and averaged more than double the amount of assists per game as Watkins.
No matter how they are ranked, both players are incredible talents who are going to be catalysts in the continued growth of women's basketball.
