When Caitlin Clark was in second grade, she jotted down her aspirations in life: Have her own eatery. Hit the jackpot. Secure a basketball scholarship. Cross paths with Maya Moore. However, among these dreams she penned over ten years ago, one stands out now more than ever: Compete in the WNBA.
This Monday evening, the 22-year-old point guard fulfilled that dream as she was chosen by the Indiana Fever as the top pick in the WNBA Draft. Clark becomes the third player in program history to be selected in the first round and joins the ranks of nine other Iowa athletes drafted during Lisa Bluder’s leadership.

Hawkeyes' star Caitlin Clark waves off unguarded South Carolina player as Iowa stuns title favorite | Fox News
“Being where I am now, I would tell my younger self, ‘You worked hard for this moment. You earned this moment. It was never given to you,’” Clark said in a video posted by IowaWBB on X, formerly Twitter.


Clark’s rookie contract includes a four-year, $338,056 deal, according to Spotrac. Clark is slated to earn $76,535 in 2024, $78,066 in 2025, $85,873 in 2026, and $97,582 in 2027. Each player drafted in the first round has a fourth-year team option, meaning the franchise that drafted them decides whether the contract stretches beyond the third season.
Furthermore, given Clark’s elevated public profile, she stands to potentially earn up to $250,000 annually through a Player Marketing Agreement (PMA) as soon as her debut season, as reported by Chloe Peterson of IndyStar. PMAs offer the league the chance to compensate players for their roles as brand ambassadors for both the WNBA and its affiliated partners throughout the year.

However, securing a position on a team in the WNBA is a formidable challenge due to the limited number of teams. Out of the 36 athletes drafted last season, only 15 secured spots on opening day rosters, as per Front Office Sports.

Clark now faces the task of proving her worthiness for a roster spot, starting with training camp commencing on April 28. The Fever’s preseason matchup against the Dallas Wings on May 3 precedes their inaugural regular-season game against the Connecticut Sun on May 14. Following her selection, Clark shared with ESPN’s Holly Rowe that maintaining authenticity and enjoying the game are her strategies, believing that victories and other achievements will naturally follow suit.

“Just do me, have fun, smile. I’ve loved playing basketball since I was a little girl, and that’s not going to change,” Clark told Rowe.
With Clark’s stellar court vision and lethality from beyond the arc, she has a good chance to join the Fever’s starting lineup. Other expected starters are reigning Rookie of the Year center Aliyah Boston, forwards NaLyssa Smith and Katie Lou Samuelson, and 2023 All-Star guard Kelsey Mitchell. Clark and Boston are expected to be a lethal duo, reminiscent of Clark and Monika Czinano’s connection at Iowa.

“Getting to play with Aliyah lights your eyes up as a point guard,” Clark told ESPN during the draft.
The ex-Hawkeye could additionally aid in stretching the court, given that in the previous season, Mitchell stood alone among Fever players in attempting over 100 3-pointers. Clark, on the other hand, notched an impressive 201 triples and took over 500 shots from beyond the arc during her final season with the Hawkeyes.

As reported by Chloe Peterson of IndyStar, Clark’s primary competition for the starting point guard position appears to be Erica Wheeler, who is in the concluding season of a lucrative two-year contract. Wheeler began as a starter last season, boasting averages of 9.9 points and 5.0 assists per game.
It’s also possible that Clark won’t make a roster or have a good start to her pro career. Current and past WNBA players like Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi have voiced how much more physical the league is compared to college. Because there are only 12 teams and 144 total players in the WNBA, Sue told ESPN that “people learn your weaknesses so fast.” Now a back-to-back WNBA Champion, Kelsey Plum didn’t earn All-Star status until five years after being drafted. Sabrina Ionescu, the NCAA all-time leader in career triple-doubles, took three years to become an All-Star.

“The league is loaded with so many people, and I think that’s something that I’ve always had a knack for,” Clark told ESPN in a pre-draft interview on Monday. “I think once I really start playing with my teammates, they kind of can read me too and read my eyes. So, you know, I love playing with good post players. I love playing with a good guard, good wing. So that’s what this league is all about.”

While Clark’s opponents will work to exploit her weaknesses on the court, just like they do with any other rookie, some players are looking forward to competing against the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer.

“Anybody who says, ‘Oh, she’s not that great,’ is downright completely dense. She’s a threat. She’s a threat in so many different ways, but she’s also lifting the tides,” Nneka Ogwumike, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2012 and a current power forward for the Seattle Storm, told ESPN. “Personally I’m excited to play against her. I’ve never played against someone like her. Plus, I want to get better.”

Even before the star guard’s name was announced on Monday night, the impact of the Caitlin Clark phenomenon had already made waves in the professional realm. With Clark reigning as the face of college basketball, Iowa shattered numerous viewership records this season across national networks. Just as in her collegiate career, Clark’s arrival in the WNBA is anticipated to draw more eyes to the league.

For the 2024 season, the Indiana Fever is slated to feature 36 out of its 40 total games on national television, marking the highest count among all WNBA teams, as announced by the league. Following closely, the Las Vegas Aces rank second with 35 nationally televised games, while the New York Liberty claim the third spot with 31. Contrastingly, during the previous season when the Fever concluded with a record of 13-27, only one of Indiana’s games was nationally televised, according to BleacherReport.

Upon Clark’s declaration for the draft, traffic to the Fever’s homepage surged by 180 percent overnight, and the average listed price for Indiana’s home opener skyrocketed by 303 percent.

The escalated interest in witnessing Clark’s distinctive playing style also led to higher ticket prices for admission to watch the star rookie in action. Indiana’s average ticket price doubled from the previous season, climbing from $60 to $140 on VividSeats. Notably, the Las Vegas Aces have relocated their July 2 game against Clark and the Fever to the T-Mobile Arena, which boasts a capacity of 18,000 spectators, as opposed to their usual venue, the 12,000-seat Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay.

According to FanDuel, Clark currently holds the fourth-highest odds to clinch the 2024 WNBA MVP title at +1200, trailing behind A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, and Alyssa Thomas.