Here’s How Caitlin Clark Paid Tribute To The Hawkeyes After Heartbreaking Loss

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Caitlin Clark has officially said goodbye to college basketball.

Caitlin's Hawkeyes lost 87-75 to the South Carolina Gamecocks in April 7's March Madness national championship. Caitlin scored 30 points in the game, with eight rebounds and five assists.

After the loss, Caitlin paid tribute to her historic college career, which saw her become the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer. She was also just named the Naismith National Player of the Year for the second year in a row.

"I’ll miss ya💛💛💛💛💛💛💛," she wrote on her Instagram story, over a photo her iconic "22" jersey.

After the game, Caitlin reflected on her own legacy, which helped pull in a record 14.2 million viewers to the University of Iowa's April 5 Final Four game against UConn, according to NBC.

"Everybody sees the viewership numbers. When you're given the opportunity, women's sport thrives and that's been the coolest part for me on this journey," she said, per BBC. "We started the season playing in front of 55,000 people, now we're ending it in front of 15 million people on TV. It just continues to get better and better and that's never going to stop. When you continue to give them the platform, things like this are just going to continue to happen."

And, since the loss was officially her final game with the Hawkeyes, many people have been asking what's next for the Caitlin. Here's everything to know about her future plans, including her potential career in the WNBA.

Caitlin will be entering the 2024 WNBA draft.

In a February announcement, Caitlin announced that she wouldn't be using her fifth year of eligibility at the University of Iowa and will instead be entering the 2024 WNBA draft.

Caitlin added that it's "impossible to fully express my gratitude" to all those who supported her throughout her career at Iowa. She thanked her teammates, coach, training staff, Hawkeye fans, and everyone who's showed up to support her over the years, "especially the young kids."

She capped off her post by acknowledging that, "Most importantly, none of this would have been possible without my family and friends who have been by my side through it all. Because of you, all my dreams came true."

She’s currently a senior at the University of Iowa.

As an Iowa native, Caitlin chose the school, in part, because it was close to home; she also looked forward to the crowd's energy.

“If anybody watched me in high school, they know that I live for a packed gym,” she told Des Moines Register. “And honestly that’s one of the reasons I came to Iowa, because the support of the women’s basketball team is so good. I just thrive off of crazy crowds.”

The choice quickly paid off for the Hawkeyes: Caitlin is the team's all-time leading scorer. She was also named the AP National Player of the Week and Big Ten Player of the Week several times, and holds the Big Ten record for most weekly awards at 25, according to Iowa news station KCCI.

She had a fifth year of eligibility, but waived it.

Caitlin had an extra year of eligibility on the Hawkeyes women's basketball team thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected her freshman year of college. The NCAA allows student-athletes who competed in the 2020-2021 season to have an extra year of eligibility if they want to, so Caitlin could have continued her winning streak at Iowa, per ESPN.

She might have used that time to begin her master's or get another bachelor's degree, Caitlin said in a Dec. 2023 SiriusXM interview, per Fox Sports. Caitlin is currently an honors student in marketing, according to the school.

She’s projected to be the No. 1 draft pick.

Caitlin's already getting quite a lot of buzz around the topic of the WNBA draft. She's projected to be the No. 1 pick, per ESPN. The draft will take place on April 15th.

She’d likely go to the Indiana Fever.

For the second year in a row, Indiana Fever has the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA draft. And, since Caitlin is projected to be the first selection, she'll likely end up here, per The Indianapolis Star.

In December, coaches from Indiana watched the Iowa game against Loyola University Chicago to check out Caitlin's performance, the newspaper reported.

She was reportedly offered $5 million to play in the Big3 league.

On March 27, rapper Ice Cube confirmed that his Big3 league—a three-on-three basketball league—had extended an offer to Caitlin after it was reported by TMZ.

Reportedly, the offer is for $5 million. According to the rapper, Caitlin could play in both the Big3 and the WNBA, pitching it as an alternative to playing abroad during the off-season.

"America’s women athletes should not be forced to spend their off seasons playing in often dismal and dubious foreign countries just to make ends meet," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter), seemingly referring to Brittney Griner's 2022 imprisonment in Russia.

She could make even more money in the WNBA.

Caitlin currently makes millions from her name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals. At the moment, she has 12 separate NIL deals, including partnerships with Nike, Gatorade, State Farm, and Topps, per Hawkeyes Wire. She's currently valued at $3.4 million, according to sports recruiting database On3. Caitlin would keep those deals when she moves to the WNBA (they'd just be called sponsorships instead).

As the presumed No. 1 pick, Caitlin would make a little over $76,000 in her first season, with the possibility of additional earning incentives like WNBA Rookie of the Year (a $5,150 bonus) and selection in the All-Star game (an additional $2,575), according to USA Today. WNBA salaries for lottery draft picks (Nos. 1 through 4) climb to $97,582 by their fourth season, per ESPN.

Additionally, if Caitlin doesn't play abroad next WNBA offseason, she could make up to $250,000 in a league marketing deal and up to $100,000 in a team marketing contract. If she does play abroad, she'd likely get a lucrative deal from a team in Europe or China, according to The Athletic.

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