“It's really hard to win something like this,” Clark said. “I think I probably know that better than most people by now. It certainly hurts when you're so close twice. But at the same time, we were right there. We didn't fight. We beat some really great teams to get back here. [did] That's really difficult. ”
Clark is the school's all-time leader in career points (men's and women's), career three-point shots (women's), and NCAA Tournament points (women's), among countless national, Big Ten Conference, and Iowa records. has established a position of University of South Carolina coach Dawn Staley paid tribute to Clark at the postgame trophy ceremony in Cleveland.
“I would like to personally thank Caitlin Clark for elevating our sport,” Staley said. “She's carried a huge burden for our sport, but it can't end here on the college tour. If she becomes the No. 1 draft pick in the WNBA, she'll lift that league up as well. Caitlin Clark, if you're there, you're one of the GOATs of our game. Thank you.”
Now that Clark, the face of women's college basketball, has played her final game for Iowa, let's take a look at what she does next.
Clark was one of 14 players invited to USA Basketball's training camp in Cleveland this week ahead of the Paris Olympics, but because Iowa is still in the NCAA Women's Tournament. I couldn't participate. Therefore, her potential inclusion on USA Basketball's roster remains unclear.
U.S. basketball coach Sheryl Reeve will coach a 12-player roster in Paris this summer. Clark, the only candidate to play in college this season, joins Ariel Atkins, Shakira Austin, Aliyah Boston, Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Rhyne Howard, Sabrina Ionescu, Jewell Lloyd and Kelsey Plum. , Brianna is competing with 13 other WNBA players for a spot. Stewart, Diana Taurasi, Aja Wilson, Jackie Young.
Clark won't have to wait long to begin his professional career. Her WNBA draft is scheduled to take place on April 15th at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York. Long regarded as this year's presumptive No. 1 pick, Clark is seen as a potentially transformative star in the growing league founded in 1996, and she has a new media rights deal independent of the NBA. may be looking for.
As a sign of Clark's star power, the WNBA has decided to sell tickets to the draft for the first time since 2016. Last month, the allotment of about 1,000 tickets sold out within 15 minutes. This week, the cheapest ticket available on one secondary site was more than $340.
The Indiana Fever received the No. 1 pick in this year's draft in a lottery consisting of four teams with poor records during the 2023 WNBA season. Indiana finished 13-27 last season with five games remaining in the playoffs, finishing 10th in the 12-team league. As anticipation builds with Clark's impending arrival, the Fever will host a draft night watch party for fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The good news for Clark looking to make the leap to the pros is that he doesn't have to travel far. The Fever is one of his three WNBA franchises in the Midwest, and Gainbridge Fieldhouse is less than 600 miles from his arena in Carver, Iowa. Hawkeyes fans who want to follow Clark on her WNBA journey can drive from Iowa City to Indianapolis, which is a five-and-a-half hour drive from her.
Still, big adjustments are yet to come. Clark played in front of a sold-out home crowd of more than 15,000 as a senior, and the Fever ranked second from bottom in the WNBA last season with an average home attendance of 4,067. And after reaching the Final Four in 2023 and 2024, Clark will join an Indiana team that missed the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons and finished with a franchise-worst 5-31 record in 2022. .
“No matter who wins [Clark] We're going to fill the seats, win some basketball games and have fun while she's here,'' Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant said last year. “She's one of those players that attracts other players and takes her casual fans and converts them into real fans.”
The Fever hopes centers Boston and Clark can form a dynamic inside-outside duo that leads the team to its first winning season since 2015. Boston selected him with the first pick in the 2023 draft out of South Carolina. He earned All-Star honors as a rookie, averaging 14.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game. Under Christy Sides, who was hired as coach after the 2022 season, Indiana's offense improved from 12th in 2022 to 6th in 2023.
Indiana University's season opener will be played on May 14th against the Connecticut Sun. The Fever's home opener will be May 16 against the New York Liberty, who lost to the Las Vegas Aces in the 2023 WNBA Finals.
In all, Indiana University will play 40 games during the 2024 regular season, with a one-month hiatus from July 17 to August 16 to prepare for the Paris Summer Olympics. The WNBA playoffs begin in September.
If Clarke is selected to represent Paris, she will join the women's team aiming for eight consecutive Olympic gold medals since the 1996 Games. The 22-year-old guard won gold medals at USA Basketball's U-19 tournament in 2019 and 2021, making her the youngest player on the Olympic roster. In contrast, Taurasi, who will be 42 when the Olympics open in Paris, is aiming for her sixth Olympic gold medal.
USA Basketball opens with a 12-team Group C tournament. In the opening games, the United States will face Japan on July 29th, Belgium on August 1st, and Germany on August 4th. After completing that stage, they will advance to the eight-team knockout stage, which begins in Paris on August 7th. The semi-finals will be held on August 9th and the gold medal match will be held on August 11th.
Needless to say, Clark's No. 22 jersey will soon be displayed in the rafters of Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Michelle Edwards (30th) and Megan Gustafson (10th) are the only two Iowa girls to have their numbers retired. In both cases, the University of Iowa retired her jersey shortly after her college career ended. Edwards retired her jersey in 1990, when she finished her four-year career in 1988. Gustafsson, who won the Naismith Trophy as a senior in 2019, retired her jersey in January 2020, less than a year after being selected for the 2019 tournament. WNBA draft.
If Gustafsson's jersey retirement ceremony serves as a model, Clark will be honored at Iowa's 2024-25 home game.
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry and Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu turned heads with their one-on-one 3-point shooting during NBA All-Star Weekend in February. Immediately after the event, Curry and Ionescu hinted that it could happen again during the 2025 All-Star Weekend, scheduled for San Francisco's Chase Center. Rumors then circulated that the format would be expanded to a two-on-two competition, possibly involving Curry's teammates Klay Thompson and Clark.
Given the success of the inaugural event, which took place Saturday night before the All-Star Slam Dunk Contest, and Clark's 3-point shooting acumen, which is often compared to Curry, there is no doubt that the NBA will not include her in next year's competition. That would be foolish. Festival.
Will Iowa State and its fans be happy with the jersey being retired, or does Clark's impressive college career deserve a bigger tribute? The Hawkeyes have already placed a decal with her jersey number on the court to show the exact location where she hit a deep 3-pointer after passing Kelsey Plumb as the NCAA women's all-time leading scorer in February. It is pasted on.
Iowa State should also consider putting up a banner recognizing Clark's NCAA scoring and 3-point shooting records.
Let's think bigger. Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler and longtime wrestling coach Dan Gable and Heisman Trophy-winning football player Nile Kinnick were honored with statues outside Iowa State's athletic complex. Given Clark's popularity in Iowa and her hometown appeal, it seems only natural that a statue depicting her signature 3-point shot should be erected. Recall that at the 2023 Iowa State Fair, Clark was honored with a life-sized statue made of butter.
There is one final precedent to consider. Iowa named its wrestling facility after Gable and named its football stadium after Kinnick. Could it lead to the Clark court? Clark Arena? Clark Library?
Clark won the state player of the year award at Dowling Catholic High School and the national player of the year award at Iowa State, but entered the WNBA with no state high school championship or NCAA championship experience on his resume. . WNBA star and former Connecticut State star Brianna Stewart noted this omission, saying this week that Clark needs the title to be the best women's college basketball player of all time.
Clark said Saturday that Iowa State shouldn't be judged solely on its national title performance.
“I don't want my legacy to be, 'Oh, Kaitlyn won X amount of games, or Kaitlyn scored X number of points,' which I wish I could have done for the women's basketball game. ” she said. “I hope it inspires young boys and young girls to play this sport and dream of doing whatever they want to do in life. I think just the joy it brings and the way people perceive women's basketball as a sport. It's fun to watch. Everybody loves it. It could be on the best stage. You can see that in the ratings. I think, for me, the time is reduced to 40 minutes and you can validate yourself within 40 minutes, and I don't think that's a fair assessment.”
It seems virtually certain that the U.S. basketball team will win gold at the Olympics, whether in 2024 or beyond. But the defining problem Clark faces in the WNBA is the same one that all great athletes face. Can she translate her individual talents to the team's success and win the championship?
