Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark has been dominating the court and smashing records and according to her friends and family, Clark “takes seriously her call to be” a role model and realizes that her gifts are from God. The guard broke the all-time women’s scoring record in February with a 49-point performance and then in March, passed men’s legendary player “Pistol Pete” Maravich with 35 points against Ohio State to become the career scoring leader in all of college basketball, both men’s and women’s. Often called “Ponytail Pete,” Clark has scored 3,771 points in her career entering the NCAA tournament.
“She knows that she has some talents that other people weren’t necessarily born with, and she’s just looking to maximize them not just for herself but for her teammates, and on an even bigger scope for the fans,” Kristin Meyer, her high school coach, told Crux, a Catholic media outlet. “It’s not just about scoring a lot of points or winning; she loves playing in front of a sold-out arena because she gets to entertain people and bring a smile to their face. For two hours she lets them have this great experience and she takes that pretty seriously, and knows that those gifts from God are an opportunity to bring joy to other people.” Father Joseph Pins, pastor of the family’s church, St. Francis, said Clark “does a great job just living out the faith.” “We’re proud of our alumna who has done such a great, great, great, thing in life,” Pins told Crux. “It’s always good as we form children to watch this go through and see success not just on the basketball court but also in her faith life.”
Clark said the religious aspects of her high school, Dowling Catholic, were a big reason she enjoyed playing there. “We get to live our faith every day. Dowling starts every day with prayer and ends every day with prayer,” Clark told the Des Moines Register in 2018. “This is a big reason why Dowling has such a special culture and is such a special place to go to school.” “She’s a team player. She’s very humble,” said parishioner Shelley Goodell. “I think she represents what’s best about being raised in the Catholic faith. She really is the perfect role model for all the kids.”