NEW YORK — Caitlin Clark was anxious moments before WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert voiced the most predictable news of Monday night’s 2024 WNBA Draft. With the first pick, the Indiana Fever selected Clark, the Iowa superstar who amassed one of the greatest careers in women’s college basketball history. Fever general manager Lin Dunn said it took “20 seconds, maybe 15” to make Clark the choice. The celebration for Clark lasted far longer than that inside the Brooklyn Academy of Music. As she embraced her family, throngs of fans wearing No. 22 Iowa T-shirts rose to their feet in delight.
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Eventually, everyone sat down, but not before a franchise had been changed.
“I can’t imagine a more perfect fit, a better place for me to start my professional career, an organization that really just believes in women’s basketball and wants to do everything the right way,” Clark said.
SEE YOU SOON CAITLIN!! pic.twitter.com/ImbApa6wuC
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) April 16, 2024
It’s been a whirlwind week for Clark, the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer. In the span of eight days, she walked off the court at the national championship game, appeared on “Saturday Night Live” and shuffled in and out of meetings with league and player association officials in New York to prepare for the draft and her future. It’s just the beginning for Clark, who will be one of the WNBA’s most in-demand and scrutinized rookies of all time.
“I’m just very lucky to be in this moment. All these opportunities, these things, they’re once in a lifetime,” Clark said. “When things might get tiring or you have to do stuff, I think the biggest thing is to look at it like an opportunity.”
Clark has been soaking in the experiences. After she walked off the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse floor in Cleveland following Iowa’s loss to South Carolina in the national championship, Clark and her teammates returned to Iowa City. She drove directly to her hometown in West Des Moines for a home-cooked meal by her mother, Anne. By Wednesday, Clark was back with her Hawkeyes teammates on campus, celebrating the team’s success in front of the fan base that sold out arenas and traveled across the country to break attendance records throughout the season. She also learned her jersey would be retired at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The sprint to Monday’s draft continued from there. On Friday, Clark was in Los Angeles for the Wooden Award ceremony, where she was named the national player of the year. She flew to the East Coast on Saturday morning, landed in New York at 5 p.m. local time and went directly to 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where she humored audiences watching “Saturday Night Live” with a guest appearance.
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Conversations about her “SNL” appearance began a few weeks ago, but Clark had only a limited time window to make a cameo. On Saturday evening, she went through a dry run and a dress rehearsal before sliding next to Weekend Update co-host Michael Che and delivering nearly four minutes of zingers.
Even for Clark, who is one of the biggest stars across all sports, meeting “SNL” executive producer Lorne Michaels and host Ryan Gosling was “pretty awesome,” she said. “Two people who are like some of the most influential people in the world.”
Of standing next to Gosling, Clark said: “You kinda start freaking out a little bit. He’s just amazing.”
Caitlin Clark dropped by SNL's Weekend Update desk, and it was fabulous… pic.twitter.com/okfal2r9qe
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) April 14, 2024
A late night flipped into a day of Sunday fittings — Clark was the first player styled by Prada for the WNBA or NBA Draft — meetings at the WNBPA office and interviews. By 9 a.m. Monday morning, Clark was at the Empire State Building, where a few fans, in the building and outside of it, wore Clark No. 22 T-shirts. Of course, Clarkmania spread across boroughs.
Back in Indianapolis, Clark’s coming arrival was much anticipated. Last season, the Fever averaged 4,067 fans — the second-lowest mark in the league — but on Monday night, an estimated 6,000 gathered at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for a watch party to bask in her selection.
“We want you to be here to cheer on what will be the best team in the WNBA,” team president Allison Barber said to fans at the festivities.
Already, Fever fans have responded in droves. According to ticket marketplace Vivid Seats, as of Wednesday, the average sold price for Fever tickets had increased 190 percent since last season. Indiana games made up the five most expensive regular-season tickets.
When Clark was officially named a member of the franchise, Fever players Maya Caldwell, Erica Wheeler and Lexie Hull busted out custom Clark jerseys, with her last name and signature No. 22 on the back. They ran around the court at the Fieldhouse as fans erupted in approval. It sounded like a playoff game, which the Fever hope to experience for the first time in eight years in Clark’s rookie season. Indiana hasn’t reached the postseason since 2016, which was Hall of Famer and franchise legend Tamika Catchings’ last year playing in the WNBA.
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“That’s definitely our goal is to get back to championship habits,” Clark said. “It’s so cool for me.” She recalled learning Catchings was a broadcast analyst for an Iowa tournament game when Clark was a freshman. “I was freaking out. I couldn’t believe she was calling one of my games. Somebody that I idolized. Somebody that I loved.”
Clark will pair with Fever forward Aliyah Boston, last year’s Rookie of the Year and a fellow No. 1 pick.
“My point guard eyes just light up at that,” Clark said.
Fireworks for Clark’s arrival are only just beginning.
“She’s gonna have a huge impact, not only on our city but our franchise, too,” Dunn said.
GO DEEPER
Is Caitlin Clark's star power strong enough to spike WNBA fandom?
Twenty-two hours before the draft — an obvious reference to Clark’s jersey number — Indiana’s social media accounts sent out a post reminding fans about the start time for Monday’s draft, the latest in a series of well-timed posts since Clark declared for the WNBA Draft in late February.
A lack of suspense didn’t diminish the moment. Not for Fever fans. Not for those in Brooklyn. Not for Clark. She recalled talking about reaching this point during a recruiting home visit as a high school junior with Iowa coach Lisa Bluder.
“We dreamed of this moment, but she also believed I would be here,” Clark said.
Clark will travel to Indianapolis on Tuesday, hold a news conference Wednesday, and from there she’ll return to Iowa for a final time before WNBA training camps begin at the end of April. Bluder said at the Final Four she was worried a bit about Clark being tired after a demanding college season. But at the same time, she said: “I just know that Caitlin has stepped up to every challenge that we’ve posed to her. And I expect the same thing at the next level.”
As the frenzy that followed her in college moves to the professional ranks, so too, will watchful eyes about Clark’s production. That all will come with time. On Monday, the reality of Clark’s future sunk in.
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“When you’re kind of just sitting at a table waiting for your name to be called, I think that really allows the emotions to feed you, and you’re with your family,” she said. “Sharing that moment with them and enjoying it, and people that have really had my back and believed in me more than anyone, is super special.”
— The Athletic’s James Boyd contributed to this report.
(Photo of Caitlin Clark and Cathy Engelbert: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
