Though many Iowa fans were holding out hope that Caitlin Clark would make use of her extra year of eligibility, ultimately, Clark felt like the timing was right to move on to her next basketball chapter.
Clark chose to forego her extra year of eligibility granted courtesy of the COVID waiver in favor of heading to the WNBA where she became the No. 1 overall draft pick to the Indiana Fever.
In an interview with “The Wake Up Call with KB & Anthony” on 107.5 FM in Indianapolis, Clark shared some more insight into her decision-making process to jump into the WNBA.
Clark said it was exciting when the Fever officially landed the No. 1 overall draft pick.
“I was definitely excited. They were probably up there with some of the top organizations and franchises that I would have wanted to go to,” Clark said.
Asked if the Fever landing that No. 1 overall pick impacted her decision to move on from Iowa, Clark said that it did.
“For sure, yeah. Being able to come to a place that really values women’s basketball, but also is in the Midwest and close to where I’m from, it just kind of makes everything a little bit easier for me.
“And then obviously, I really wanted to play with Aliyah. That doesn’t hurt either. And there’s just great talent on this team. But that wasn’t obviously the only reason I left. At the same time, it was time for me to end my college career. There was really nothing left for me to do at the University of Iowa. I’m not sure it could have gotten any better for us. I think it could have only gone down. It seemed like kind of all the stars aligned,” Clark said.
Wow! Caitlin Clark says that Fever getting #1 pick and getting a chance to play with Aliyah Boston definitely impacted her decision to leave Iowa with 1 year of eligibility left… pic.twitter.com/brloaAb0HU
— EAD&DS🦬🤠 (@pacman_MHD) July 10, 2024
After back-to-back runs to the national championship game and back-to-back seasons sweeping the National Player of the Year awards, it makes sense why Clark felt the timing was right to make the move to the WNBA.
Clark and Aliyah Boston are morphing into one of the best young duos in the WNBA.
Clark is averaging 16.7 points, 7.6 assists, 5.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game in her rookie season, while shooting 39.8% from the field, 34.2% from 3-point range and 89.0% from the free throw line.
Boston is averaging 13.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.
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