Dawn Staley: Caitlin Clark Winning National Title 'Would Seal the Deal' as WCBB GOAT

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley believes there's still one thing missing on Caitlin Clark's résumé to truly make the Iowa star one of the greatest college basketball players of all time.

Staley agreed with UConn legend Breanna Stewart, who said Clark needs to win a championship to enter rarefied air.

"I was really good in college, never won a championship," Staley told reporters in reference to a career that included three Final Fours and two Naismith College Player of the Year trophies. "You've got to win a championship. That's (my opinion) personally. Like I had a great career. But it's always, did you win a championship?"

"I mean, she's really damn good regardless," Staley added. "But winning the championship would seal the deal."

Stewart, a four-time national champion with the Huskies, offered her two cents on the question in an interview with College Sports on SiriusXM's Nicole Auerbach:

This is where it's important to draw a distinction between "great" and "the greatest."

Clark is unquestionably a great of the college game regardless of what happens in Sunday's title game. She's the all-time leading scorer in Division I history, and building on the efforts before her, she has helped elevate women's basketball as a whole.

When it comes to being the greatest, however, the absence of a championship is glaring because that's a common denominator among the players most frequently cited within a GOAT context.

Clark has left a legacy at Iowa, the full impact of which won't be known for years. Similarly, it may take some time to fully appreciate everything she achieved with the Hawkeyes. Michael Jordan becoming the greatest ever in the NBA changed how his North Carolina run was viewed in retrospect.

Were the senior guard to guide her program to its first-ever title, it will at least become much easier to say she earned a place among college basketball immortality.