As 2024 closes, former Iowa women’s basketball legend and current Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark added one final honor to her remarkable year on Monday by receiving this year’s Female Athlete of the Year award from The Sporting News.
During a year like no other for Clark, she finished her collegiate basketball career as NCAA Division I’s top all-time scorer for both men’s and women’s basketball with 3,951 career points, led the Hawkeyes to their second consecutive National Championship Game appearance, was selected No. 1 overall by the Fever in the WNBA draft, and won WNBA Rookie of the Year.
In her first year with the Fever, Clark helped draw sky-high attendance and viewership numbers for the WNBA, generating a significant uptick in competition throughout the league.
The honor for Clark is her second consecutive Female Athlete of the Year award from The Sporting News after she split the distinction in 2023 with then-LSU star Angel Reese.
She transcended the sport.
Caitlin Clark is our 2024 Female Athlete of the Year.
🔗: https://t.co/kzfnG0zJBH pic.twitter.com/0fFZnnAIpR
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) December 30, 2024
While Clark has been enjoying the WNBA’s offseason, her impact off the court remains equally as strong as her on-court presence, whether through corporate advertisements, appearances at other sporting events, or the influx of young basketball interest on both the male and female sides.
Although her 2024 story will soon end, Clark is already receiving dividends from her impact on the sport in 2025 by having her No. 22 jersey retired to the rafters of Iowa’s Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Feb. 2 vs. USC.
Beyond that moment, many fans are eager to see how the phenomenal athlete can top this past year and how much influence she can generate on the future generations of women’s basketball players.
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