We might as well go ahead and be completely honest about this: Caitlin Clark is a problem. That’s 21st-century minimalist sports slang for someone so ridiculously good at sports the opposition spends an inordinate amount of time pondering how to deal with the challenge (while fully aware their chosen tactics may fail).

She fits this description beautifully.

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Except that’s not what we’re talking about.

She’s a problem for us. The media.

Because when The Sporting News in December presented Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese with our Athletes of the Year award – an honor that previously had been presented to such legends as Lionel Messi, Tom Brady and Jackie Joyner-Kersee – we calculated her scoring average at that point meant she was due to pass Washington’s Kelsey Plum at some point in late February. That allowed plenty of time to plan proper coverage of the occasion.

We neglected one thing: This is Caitlin Clark, for whom not only are records made to be broken, but also the law of averages.

So here she is not even 10 days into the month, and she’s going to get this done. Like, now. Over the past five games, she has averaged 32.6 points and accelerated the timeline for breaking the record by weeks. If she finished her season with her current season scoring average of 32.2 points a game, it would be the highest for any player in more than 30 years. It is within reach for her to top Patricia Hoskins’ record for the top season in NCAA women’s history.

Plum established her career record of 3,527 points at the close of the 2017 season. With 39 more points, Clark will become the new leader Sunday at Nebraska. That would mean scoring the big basket on the road. And doing it on Super Bowl Sunday, when it might get lost a bit the cacophony that surrounds America’s premier sporting event.

But breaking that record is such a big deal – it helps that Clark is a Chiefs fan – the most famous player in the Big Game is aware of the milestone Clark approaches.

Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes told Riley Trujillo of The Sporting News that because of that timing, “I don’t know if I’ll get to see it. But she’s just a tremendous player, a tremendous person. I’ve met with her and talked. You can tell she loves the game. She loves playing at Iowa. She’s of the best women’s bask – one of the best college basketball players to ever play … I hope I never have to play her on-on-one because she’ll for sure be getting buckets on me.”

Clark was an elite prospect at Dowling Catholic in Des Moines and considered one of the top five players in the 2020 recruiting class. At some point, the possibility of her becoming an outstanding college player evolved into her becoming an all-time great, a generational talent, someone whose ability and achievements will be discussed in the company of legends Nancy Lieberman, Cheryl Miller, Chamique Holdsclaw and Maya Moore.

The inevitability of greatness is revealed at different times to those with different perspectives. Bob Knight proclaimed Michael Jordan’s superiority after coaching him in the 1984 Olympic Trials. When the Trail Blazers made it clear they were considering the selection of Kentucky big man Sam Bowie instead of Jordan in that year’s NBA Draft because they needed a center, Knight famously told general manager Stu Inman, “So play him at center!” The Patriots didn’t realize what they had in Tom Brady, a sixth-round draft choice in 2000, until starter Drew Bledsoe was injured in 2001. New England won the Super Bowl that year with Brady at QB, and five more afterward.

We wanted to know when some of those who have watched, followed, covered and coached Caitlin Clark realized she was not just the next great player, but something more. So we asked.