Iowa guard Caitlin Clark headlines the field of finalists for the Naismith Women's College Player of the Year.

Stanford's Cameron Brink, UConn's Paige Bueckers and USC's JuJu Watkins also remain in the hunt, but a Clark victory feels like a fait accompli amid her historic season.

The senior leads Division I in points (31.8) and assists (8.9) and she has left her name in the NCAA's record books. She passed Washington legend Kelsey Plum in February to become the all-time leading scorer in Division I women's basketball. Then she leapfrogged LSU legend Pete Maravich less than a month later to claim the career mark across the men's and women's games.

Until the 2024 NCAA tournament concludes, it's too early to fully evaluate Clark's résumé against those of other greats. There's no question she has electrified college basketball fans like almost no one before her, though.

Between her individual production and the role she played in Iowa winning 29 games before March Madness and claiming a Big Ten tournament title, Clark could sweep all of the major player of the year awards.

Assuming Clark is the pick, it might only be a matter of time before Watkins' name is engraved on the Naismith Women's College Player of the Year trophy.

Like Clark, the freshman became appointment viewing in 2023-24. In her first ever appearance at USC, she dropped 32 points in an upset of No. 7 Ohio State and hardly slowed down from there. Her 51 points in a February victory over Stanford were a school record.

Only once did Watkins fail to score in double figures and she ranks first in Division I in usage rate (43.2 percent), per Her Hoop Stats. With her leading the way, Trojans fans are understandably dreaming of a return to the Final Four for the first time since 1986.

The L.A. native is setting an absurdly high bar for what's to follow across the remainder of her time in college.

Bueckers was the Naismith winner as a freshman in 2021 but battled injuries as a sophomore before a torn ACL wiped out her entire 2022-23 campaign. Finally back to 100 percent, she hasn't missed a beat for UConn in 2023-24.

The 6'0" guard is averaging 21.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.1 steals. Her 8.2 win shares trail only Clark (8.8) on Her Hoop Stats, and she's averaging the fourth-most points per play (1.20).

Buecker remains every bit the offensive dynamo she was before the ACL injury.

Brink is another upperclassman who met sky-high expectations on the court.

The senior averaged 17.8 points and made a career-high 20 three-pointers, and she impacted games on defense like few other bigs. She was third nationally in defensive rebounding rate (24.6) and third in block percentage (13.5), per Her Hoop Stats.

Stanford posted the Pac-12's best record (15-3), which may have played a decisive role in Brink winning the conference's Player of the Year over Watkins. She added the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year for good measure.