As expected, Caitlin Clark is set to continue her career in the Midwest for the Indiana Fever.
On Monday night, Clark was selected No. 1 overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft at Brooklyn Academy of Music that hosted an audience of 1,000 fans for the first time in league history.
With a big smile, the former Iowa star who was a leading figure in the must-see NCAA women’s tournament this year, joined league commissioner Cathy Engelbert on stage to accept her new team’s jersey.
She held up the navy, red and yellow jersey for the cameras to start a new chapter of her career.
The Fever, who went 13-27 last season and haven’t had a winning season since 2016, hope Clark’s momentum from a superlative college career will transfer into the league.
Clark played a large role in the surge of women’s basketball and the record-breaking viewership the sport enjoyed this past season.
She turned Iowa into a must-see program, causing endless lines to see her play, and made “logo 3” typical lingo within the sport.
She led Iowa to a 34-5 season, going to back-to-back national championship games and had a record-breaking year, earning the title of all-time leading scorer in Division I history after surpassing Pete Maravich’s 54-year-old record. Clark also led the nation with an average of 31.6 points per game.
The pick was expected not only because of Clark’s talent, but the Fever were feeding into the idea, preselling single-game tickets instead of two games for a 15-day stretch.
They have seen a big spike in ticket sales with the anticipated arrival of Clark.
Others in the WNBA foreshadowed the move as well, including the back-to-back defending champion Aces, who changed the venue of their July 2 game against the Fever to a bigger arena to accommodate more fans.
Clark’s first WNBA game with the Fever is expected to be May 14 against the Connecticut Sun.
In Indiana, she will join 2023 first-overall pick Aliyah Boston from South Carolina, who earned Rookie of the Year and an All-Star nod this past season after averaging 14.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.
Clark declared for the draft Feb. 29 rather than returning to Iowa for another season afforded her thanks to COVID-19 modifications.
“While this season is far from over and we have a lot more goals to achieve, it will be my last one at Iowa. I am excited to be entering the 2024 WNBA Draft,” Clark wrote on X at the time.