Sunday’s game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Ohio State Buckeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena will hold a little extra significance for the home team, as it will mark the last time that the greatest player in program history plays a regular season game on her home floor. In a statement posted to her Twitter account on Thursday afternoon, Iowa star Caitlin Clark announced that she will forgo her final year of eligibility and enter the 2024 WNBA Draft.
🖤 pic.twitter.com/9bd3w390Ka
— Caitlin Clark (@CaitlinClark22) February 29, 2024
It’s not an especially big surprise that Clark, a two-time unanimous first-team All-American and the reigning National Player of the Year, is headed to the WNBA after this season. She’s presumed to be the overwhelming favorite to go with the No. 1 overall pick, which would mean she joins the Indiana Fever. This marks the second year in a row that the Fever have the top pick in the WNBA Draft, and last year, the team used the selection to acquire Aliyah Boston out of South Carolina — Boston would go on to make the All-Star Game and get named the WNBA Rookie of the Year.
Despite having one more year of eligibility that she can use, Clark has already broken Kelsey Plum’s career Division I women’s scoring record. The all-time Division I record, which is currently held by Pete Maravich, is only 18 points away, and it is presumed that she will eclipse it during the game against the Buckeyes.
