Head of class: Ranking players who won ROTY and MVP in the same season

The WNBA is abuzz with Caitlin Clark's pending league debut. 

She's a heavy favorite (-700) to be named Rookie of the Year, but could have her eyes set on a bigger prize. According to Fan Duel, Clark also has the third-best odds (+1000) to bring home MVP honors.

Accomplishing both is much easier said (or written) than done. The list of players in major professional sports to achieve the feat is short. Here's our ranking of the athletes to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in their first season in their respective league.

Honorable Mention: Herb Gardiner | NHL • 1926-27

Stats: six goals, seven assists

Playoffs: L, semifinals

This isn't a recency bias putting Gardiner, who debuted during the Calvin Coolidge administration, at the bottom of the list. The former Montreal Canadien was 35 when he made his NHL debut, having previously played for the Calgary Tigers of the Big 4 Hockey League and later the Western Canadian Hockey League. He also technically wasn't awarded both honors, either, as the league began naming its best rookie in 1933. However, almost a century later, he remains the only player to win the league's MVP award in his first NHL season.

6. Ichiro Suzuki | MLB • 2001

Stats: .350 batting average, .381 on-base percentage, 242 total hits, 56 stolen bases

Playoffs: L, ALCS

Suzuki took baseball by storm during his first year in the league. The slim, 5-foot-11, 175-pound outfielder stood out in baseball's steroid era and immediately proved to be one of the league's best hitters.

He was incredible as the Seattle Mariners' leadoff man, recording the most hits by a rookie in league history. Like Gardiner, Suzuki had years of professional experience under his belt and made his MLB debut at 27, docking him points on our list. From 1992 to 2000, he played in the Japan Pacific League for the Orix Blue Wave and batted .353 with a .421 on-base percentage.

5. Wes Unseld | NBA • 1968-69

Stats (per game): 13.8 points, 18.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists

Playoffs: L, Eastern Conference semifinals

Unseld's arrival helped turn around the Baltimore Bullets. They went 36-46 the season before he was selected No. 2 overall in the 1968 NBA Draft. During his first year in the league, the Bullets went 57-25 and finished atop the Eastern Conference. Unseld was a rebounding machine — per Stathead, he's one of six players in NBA history with two 30-rebound games as a rookie. Only three players (Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Walt Bellamy) averaged more rebounds per game during their rookie season.

4. Candace Parker | WNBA • 2008

Stats (per game): 18.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.3 blocks, 1.3 steals

Playoffs: L, Western Conference finals

Like Unseld, Parker's arrival sparked an instant turnaround for her pro squad. Los Angeles went 10-24 in 2007, missing the postseason for the first time since 1998. After drafting Parker with the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft, the Sparks went 20-14 and nearly reached the WNBA Finals before San Antonio's Sophia Young's heartbreaking buzzer-beater in Game 2 of the West Finals forced a decisive Game 3, which the Silver Stars won, 76-72.

3. Fred Lynn | MLB • 1975

Stats: .331 batting average, .401 on-base percentage, 175 total hits, 21 home runs, 105 runs batted in 

Playoffs: L, World Series

The Red Sox nearly ended the Babe Ruth curse 29 years earlier during Lynn's historic rookie season. The first player in major league history to receive Rookie of the Year and MVP honors in the same season, Lynn and the Red Sox entered the sixth inning of Game 7 of the 1975 World Series up 3-0 on the Reds. They allowed four unanswered runs over the next four innings to lose in devastating fashion, and Lynn grounded out in his last at-bat. He finished the series 7-for-25 at the plate and would never make it back to the Fall Classic.

2. Jim Brown | NFL • 1957

Stats: 202 carries, 942 yards, 10 total touchdowns

Playoffs: L, Championship

Nearly 70 years after Brown burst on the scene, his rookie campaign is no less impressive. He's the only player in NFL history to secure both Rookie of the Year and MVP honors in the same season. In Week 9 of his rookie year against the Rams, Brown ran for an NFL-record (since broken) 237 rushing yards and scored four touchdowns in a 45-31 win. On his most famous run of the day, Brown was met by a swarm of Rams defenders five years behind the line of scrimmage but somehow broke away for a 69-yard touchdown.

1. Wilt Chamberlain | NBA • 1959-60

Stats (per game): 37.6 points, 27 rebounds, 2.3 assists

Playoffs: L, Eastern Conference finals

Chamberlain began his near-mythical NBA career two years after Brown commenced his run in the NFL and authored the greatest rookie season in sports history. He holds the NBA's rookie records for points and rebounds per game and led the Philadelphia Warriors to the Eastern Conference Finals a season after they went 32-40 and missed the playoffs. Chamberlain's legendary career would grow to include the sport's only 100-point game, and he also held the league's all-time scoring title for over 18 years, from Feb. 14, 1966 to April 5, 1984. 

He did a lot of mind-boggling things during his 14-year career, and it all started when he was a rookie.