During the team’s season-end gathering on Wednesday, Athletic Director Beth Goetz disclosed the decision. With a college basketball career in Iowa that is arguably the most distinguished in its history, it’s fitting that the No. 22 jersey will be immortalized in the rafters of Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Caitlin Clark drives up ticket prices for Iowa basketball - Just Women's Sports

At the recent season-end celebration, Athletic Director Beth Goetz revealed that Caitlin Clark’s jersey will be retired by Iowa women’s basketball. This decision marks her as the third women’s basketball player to receive this honor at Iowa, following in the footsteps of Michelle Edwards’ No. 30 and Megan Gustafson’s No. 10 jerseys.


“It’s super incredible,” Clark said after the jersey retirement announcement. “It’s something I’m very thankful for. I’ve had some amazing teammates over the course of my four years here … That number holds a lot of weight, far beyond my name, and I’m just super grateful.”

The guard who hails from West Des Moines averaged 28.4 points, 8.2 assists, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.5 steals while shooting 46.2 percent from the field, 37.7 percent from three, and 85.2 percent from the free throw line over her four-year tenure with the Hawkeyes. She finished her career as college basketball’s all-time leading scorer with 3,951 points, breaking Pete Maravich’s record of 3,667 points that stood for over 54 years. Clark is also second all-time, men’s or women’s, with 548 made threes and 1,144 assists.
Her list of accolades is second-to-none: two-time Naismith Player of the Year; four-time AP All-American; three-time Big Ten Player of the Year; three-time NCAA All-Region; two-time All-Big Ten; two-time Big Ten Tournament MVP; two-time NCAA All-Tournament; two-time Wooden Award winner; Iowa’s all-time scoring, assist, and three-point leader; Big Ten’s all-time scoring, assist, and three-point leader; NCAA Tournament all-time scoring leader; and, of course, the NCAA all-time scoring leader.
Over the past couple of years, Caitlin Clark and the Iowa women’s basketball team have smashed numerous records for viewership. Their journey began with the setting of the women’s college basketball viewership record during the 2023 National Championship, despite their loss to LSU, with an average of 9.9 million viewers tuning in on ABC, marking a 103 percent increase from the 2022 final.

A pivotal moment arrived during Iowa’s clash with Ohio State, where Clark surpassed Maravich’s all-time scoring record, making it the most-watched women’s college basketball regular season game with an average of 3.39 million viewers on FOX.

The excitement continued into the Big Ten Tournament, where the championship game between Iowa and Nebraska on March 12 became the most-viewed women’s college basketball game on CBS, boasting an average of 3.02 million viewers. Throughout the tournament, BTN’s viewership soared by 141 percent compared to the previous year.

The 2024 NCAA Women’s Tournament captured immense anticipation, witnessing Iowa setting viewership records in three consecutive games. The Elite Eight rematch against LSU drew an average of 12.3 million viewers, followed by the Final Four showdown against UConn with 14.43 million average viewers. The pinnacle was reached during the national championship clash between Iowa and South Carolina, garnering an average of 18.9 million viewers, making it the most-watched basketball game — across men’s and women’s, college and professional — since 2019. Remarkably, for the first time, the women’s college final attracted more viewers than the men’s college final.

Accompanying the impressive TV ratings was a surge in in-person attendance. For the first time in program history, Iowa women’s basketball completely sold out its 2023-24 season tickets. Nearly every game throughout the season, both home and away, witnessed packed arenas, with only two exceptions in south Florida. Additionally, the women’s Big Ten Tournament sold out for the first time in its 30-year history.

Looking ahead, Clark’s journey will continue as she transitions to the WNBA, widely expected to be selected as the No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever. The Fever’s 2024 season promises heightened visibility, with 36 of their 40 total games scheduled for national television, the most among all WNBA teams.

The culmination of Clark’s collegiate career and the beginning of her professional journey will be celebrated during the 2024 WNBA Draft, slated for April 15 at 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.