Caitlin Clark joins rare company to hold NCAA records across men's ...
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark on Sunday became the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer across men’s and women’s basketball. Clark’s career points total surpassed a 54-year mark set by another revolutionary player in former LSU star “Pistol” Pete Maravich, who finished with 3,667 points.
It was a week for the record books. One game earlier, Clark — a catalyst to the recent rapid growth of women’s basketball — also passed Lynette Woodard’s Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women scoring record of 3,649 points. She also broke the Division I women’s single-season 3-point record of 154, set by Idaho’s Taylor Pierce.
In surpassing Maravich, Clark joined an elite group of women to hold a record across NCAA men’s and women’s basketball.
While not a comprehensive list, below are 10 others to hold such marks.
Previous overall record: Mike Krzyzewski, Duke – 1,202 wins
On the sidelines, Stanford women’s basketball head coach Tara VanDerveer stands atop the all-time wins list for men’s and women’s basketball. The coaching icon passed former Duke men’s head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s mark of 1,202 wins Jan. 21. A former guard at Indiana, VanDerveer has coached at Stanford since 1985, taking a year off in 1996 to coach the USA national team to the Olympic gold medal in Atlanta. She has missed only one NCAA tournament since coming to Stanford.
Men’s record: UCLA - 88 wins
Previous overall record: UConn - 90 wins
Starting in the 2014-15 season, UConn women’s basketball went on an incredible 111-game winning streak. The streak finally ended in 2017 in heartbreaking fashion — with a buzzer beater in the 2017 Final Four against Mississippi State. The loss also ended a string of four national championships for the Huskies. UConn’s streak smashed its own record of 90, set from 2008-11. Before that, the John Wooden-led UCLA men’s team held the all-time winning streak record at 88.
Previous overall record: Kyle Collinsworth, BYU (2011, 2014-16) - 12 triple-doubles
A stat stuffer and current star of the WNBA, Sabrina Ionescu recorded more triple-doubles than anyone in NCAA basketball history: 26. Her mark while at Oregon is more than double that of the leader on the men’s side, Brigham Young’s Kyle Collinsworth (12). Ionescu also holds the top single-season triple-double mark for men’s and women’s at eight, which she accomplished twice. (Note: Clark is No. 2 among men and women with 17 career triple-doubles.)
Previous overall record: Louella Tomlinson (2008-11), Saint Mary’s (California) - 663 blocks
Men’s record: Ira Nicholson (1993-97), University of Mount Saint Vincent - 576 blocks
Brittney Griner holds the career blocks record across men’s and women’s basketball at a whopping 748. She was an All-American at Baylor, where her jersey was recently retired, averaging 5.1 blocks per game across 148 games. Griner has 85 more all-time blocks than Louella Tomlinson had for Saint Mary’s (California), the next closest in the women’s record book. She is more than 170 above the next closest on the men’s side, where the University of Mount Saint Vincent’s Ira Nicholson holds the record with 576. Also, Griner’s 223 blocks in the 2009-10 season is the top single-season mark in NCAA men’s and women’s basketball, besting David Robinson’s mark of 207 for Navy in 1985-86. She set that record as a freshman.
Previous overall record: Cheryl Taylor, Tennessee Tech (1984-87) - 90 double-doubles
Men's rcord: Garret Kerr, USciences* (2011-15) - 89 double-doubles
No one produced double-doubles more consistently than former Oklahoma standout Courtney Paris. As a Sooner, she recorded 128 in her career, 36 more than the next closest on the women’s side and 32 more than anyone on the men’s side. Even more impressive? She recorded 112 games in a row with a double-double.
*USciences merged with Saint Joseph’s in 2022-23.
Men’s record: Bobby Hurley, Duke (1989-93) - 1,076 assists
The first first-team All-American women’s basketball player at Penn State, Suzie McConnell-Serio was a dynamic distributor whose mark of 1,307 career assists from 1984-88 still stands atop the NCAA record book for men’s and women’s players. In the 25 years since, no one’s come close to her mark. Duke alum and current Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley’s 1,076 assists is the top mark on the men’s side, while the next closest on the women’s side is Florida International University’s Andrea Nagy, who had 1,165 when she finished her career in 1995. McConnell-Serio went on to win an Olympic gold medal with Team USA at the 1988 Games and a bronze at the 1992 Games before transitioning into a successful coaching career at the professional and college levels.
Previous overall record: Courtney Paris, Oklahoma (2006-09) - 137 games
Men’s record: Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy (2019-23) - 144 games
UConn legend Maya Moore scored 10 or more points in 149 games during her 154-game college career to lead all NCAA men’s and women’s basketball players in career double-digit games. A major part of the UConn women’s most dominant years, Moore helped the Huskies win back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 WNBA draft, Moore won four WNBA titles and two Olympic gold medals after her UConn career.
Previous overall record: Natalie White, Florida International (1991-95) - 624 steals
Men’s record: Calvin Cheek, New England (2018-22) - 580 steals
A three-time All-American for then-Division II Central Arkansas from 2001-05, Carone Harris notched 667 steals in her career. Her record shattered the top mark on the men’s side (448 by Ramapo’s Tennyson Whitted) and comfortably surpassed the women’s record of 624 by Florida A&M’s Natalie White. Lamar’s Chastadie Barrs topped White’s mark in 2019, but fell short in her run at Harris’ record. Harris helped lead Central Arkansas to the Division II semifinals in her senior season, during which she collected 190 of her career steals.
Previous overall record: Tie at 33 between Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris (2005-06 and 2006-07), George Mason’s Natalie Butler (2017-18) and Iowa’s Megan Gustafson (2018-19)
Men’s record: Tie at 31 between Navy’s David Robinson (1985-86) and North Carolina’s Armando Bacot (2021-22)
A key piece of LSU’s Division I championship team in 2023, Angel Reese had an All-America season that included setting an NCAA single-season record for double-doubles with 34. Her mark surpassed a three-way tie for the previous record between Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris, George Mason’s Natalie Butler and Iowa’s Megan Gustafson at 33. Reese was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, recording her 34th double-double in the title victory over the Clark-led Hawkeyes.
Previous Division I men’s and women’s record: Cory Bradford, Illinois (1997-2002) - 88 games
Current Division I men’s record: Mack Smith, Eastern Illinois (2018-21) - 91 games.
Ohio State alum Kelsey Mitchell holds the Division I men’s and women’s record for consecutive games with a 3-pointer at 92. The impressive stretch went from Jan. 2, 2016, to March 19, 2018. Mitchell’s 873 points her first season ranked second among freshmen in Division I women’s history. Mitchell, who now plays for the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, ranks third on the all-time scoring list for NCAA women.
