Iowa women’s basketball guard Caitlin Clark has won the 2021 Dawn Staley Award, it was announced Friday by the Phoenix Club of Philadelphia.

The award is given to the most outstanding collegiate guard in the country, and Clark is the first freshman ever to win the award. A description of the award stated that the player winning it exemplifies the skills Staley had in her career, which were her ball handling, scoring, ability to distribute the ball, and her desire to win.

Clark led the nation with 26.7 points and 7.13 assists per game during her freshman season in 2020-21. With her great performance, she was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and WBCA Co-Freshman of the Year, as well as an All-American.

Staley was a terrific player at Virginia from 1988-92, and she was named the WBCA Player of the Year in 1991 and 1992. She is currently the head coach of South Carolina women’s basketball program.

“It’s always a special day when we give out the Dawn Staley Award,” Staley said in a release. “But I absolutely love that this year it’s going to be a freshman because it means fans of our game get to watch Caitlin Clark, an absolute star for so many years. Caitlin Clark is so talented. She can score from anywhere, has incredible vision for someone so young and is a relentless defender. Those of us who pay attention to this game have known about her for some time, but the world is now getting to see what she can do on the biggest of stages. Caitlin is going to be a huge part of women’s basketball for a long time and I couldn’t be more proud that she is the recipient of this year’s Dawn Staley Award.”

Clark will be honored for receiving this award in a virtual ceremony Thursday.