The NCAA women's tourney had everything: stars, upsets, an undefeated champion. It's just the start

It wasn't just Caitlin Clark. And no one knows that better than the Iowa superstar.

While the two-time Associated Press Player of the Year understands her impact on the NCAA Tournament during the Hawkeyes' run to a second straight title game — with the sellouts she played in front of, the historic TV ratings and all those commercials, it was hard to miss — Clark never forgot that she was just part of the show.

It is why the NCAA's all-time leading scorer is so confident what happened to the sport she loves over the last month is sustainable. Clark doesn't view the culmination of her college career as the end of something. Hardly.

“When I think about women’s basketball going forward, obviously it’s just going to level, whether it’s at the college level,” she said after the Hawkeyes fell to South Carolina in the championship game. “Everybody sees it. Everybody knows.”