The worst-kept secret in sports is now official.
The Indiana Fever selected generational superstar Caitlin Clark with the No. 1 overall pick in Monday’s 2024 WNBA draft.
In her senior season, Clark led the Iowa Hawkeyes to their second straight appearance in the NCAA title game, where they lost to undefeated South Carolina.
She led the nation in scoring at 31.6 points per game and in assists with an average of 8.9 per game, becoming the first player to finish No. 1 in both categories in consecutive years.
Clark became the career Division I scoring leader for men or women in her final season at Iowa.
The guard finished her career with 3,951 points and 1,144 assists, and was named an All-American in every season in a tenure that started playing in front of sparse crowds during her freshman year when attendance was limited because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Iowa athletics director Beth Goetz announced that Clark’s jersey number 22 would be retired, the third number to be retired in program history.
One of the biggest names in all of sports will now join a Fever team that finished the 2023 season last in the Eastern Conference with a 13-27 record.
The “Caitlin Clark effect” is already being seen around the WNBA, as a few teams have already moved their first game against the Fever to venues with a larger capacity in anticipation of Clark joining Indiana.
The 2024 WNBA regular season is set to tip off May 14 with four games, including Clark and the Fever taking on the Connecticut Sun.
