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Iowa star Caitlin Clark declares for WNBA draft

jason owens
Staff writer
·2 min read
590

Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark announced on Thursday that she's declaring for the WNBA draft.

She made her announcement with one game remaining on the regular-season schedule and weeks after breaking the NCAA women's scoring record.

"While this season is far from over and we have a lot more goals to achieve, it will be my last one at Iowa," Clark wrote on social media. "I am excited to be entering the 2024 WNBA Draft."

The Indiana Fever hold the No. 1 pick in April's draft for a second consecutive season. Clark will presumably join 2023 No. 1 pick and Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston to anchor a promising young core in Indiana.

Clark will leave after her fourth NCAA season with one year of eligibility remaining. Players who were active during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season were granted an extra season of eligibility by the NCAA. She'll forgo that extra season to turn pro at 22 years old. In the meantime, she'll hope to lead Iowa to an NCAA championship, the only hole remaining on her illustrious college résumé.

Clark won consensus National Player of the Year honors as a junior in 2023 while leading the Hawkeyes to the national championship game. There, LSU defeated Iowa to deny the Hawkeyes a title.

Caitlin Clark has declared for the WNBA draft. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)
Caitlin Clark has declared for the WNBA draft. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)

Clark is the favorite to sweep national individual honors again in 2024 amid a historic season that saw her pass Kelsey Plum as the NCAA women's all-time scoring leader. She broke Plum's 3,527-point threshold with a career-high 49-point performance in a Feb. 16 win over Michigan.

As of Thursday, Clark was averaging a career-high 32.2 points and 8.7 assists alongside 7.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 46.9% from the field and 39.5% on 13.6 3-point attempts per game. She's now 18 points from passing Pete Maravich, who owns the NCAA scoring record for men or women with 3,667 points in three seasons at LSU.

Clark's on pace to pass that mark in Sunday's regular-season finale against Ohio State. Her sixth-ranked Hawkeyes will host the No. 2 Buckeyes on Sunday in a game that will have significant implications for NCAA tournament seeding.