Is Caitlin Clark or Paige Bueckers the nation's top player? - ESPN

After UConn's win over Syracuse in the second round of the 2024 women's NCAA tournament, UConn coach Geno Auriemma made headlines by declaring his star Paige Bueckers «the best player in America.»

Elsewhere, the discussion has been about whether Iowa guard Caitlin Clark — who became the leading scorer in NCAA Division I basketball history, men's or women's, earlier this year — might be the greatest women's college player of all time, let alone this season.

To a degree, Auriemma walked back his comments during last weekend's regional in Portland. He noted that many other coaches would probably call their own star the best in the country and joked he'd never said anything at all on the topic once the Huskies' matchup with Clark and Iowa in the Final Four was set.

Nonetheless, Auriemma's argument wasn't entirely off base. His full comments, which were left out of the headlines, noted Bueckers' statistical versatility. «In this world of analytics, the numbers say that she is,» Auriemma said. «And the whole stat sheet says that she is.»

Although Clark is undoubtedly the better scorer and playmaker, Bueckers — who won the majority of national player of the year awards as a freshman, including the Naismith and Wooden honors — has helped UConn overcome frontcourt injuries by defending opposing post players. According to ESPN Stats & Information data, the versatile Bueckers has already become the first player since 2000 with at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in three games in the same tournament.

So what do the advanced statistics actually tell us about Bueckers' performance this season relative to Clark's? Let's break them down.

It doesn't require breaking down stats on a per-possession basis to reveal Clark is the