Right after Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes beat the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament championship on Sunday afternoon, the Hawkeyes star took a quick detour before celebrating with her teammates in the locker room.
An elated Clark changed course when she saw a group of young fans waiting to meet their basketball idol.
She ran to the other side of a rope and had security guards follow her to the side of the hallway.
The 22-year-old guard signed various posters and items for the young fans, who cheered with joy when she ran over to them. It was clear she made their day.
The moment was especially remarkable as Clark was in the midst of celebrating the Hawkeyes’ third consecutive Big Ten tournament title.
Iowa rallied in the second half to send the game into overtime before winning, 94–89.
Clark recorded 34 points, 12 assists, seven rebounds and three steals.
The Hawkeyes (29–4), ranked No. 3 in the nation, now wait to learn if they will receive a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament when the bracket is revealed Sunday evening.
Hot news: Caitlin Clark sets up her teammates in more ways than one, which is a big factor in Iowa’s success Caitlin Clark thought junior teammate Sydney Affolter came in and played great after Molly Davis’ injury. Redshirt junior Kylie Feuerbach, too.
“That’s what we’re going to need going forward,” Clark said after Iowa’s regular-season finale win over Ohio State. “I’m proud of our group when [the Buckeyes] went on their runs. I thought we always had a response.”
Five minutes and many questions later, she dropped in a note on another strong performance from Hannah Stuelke before answering a follow-up question about the sophomore forward.
“This is what Hannah is capable of every night,” Clark said. “I think it’s just her confidence, believing in herself. I thought she made some big free throws. But yeah, I think she played really, really well and obviously that’s going to be important going down the stretch.”
Clark is most well-known for her prolific scoring and career 3,685 points that put her past Pete Maravich’s legendary all-time points record. Her passing ability is a close second and she’s sixth on the all-time NCAA Division I women’s list with 1,058.
They provide as much of a wow factor as her logo 3s, even if it’s been overshadowed recently by her scoring records.
Glossed over even more is her ability to dish it out in another way.
It is no secret that the media masses in interview rooms and millions watching on TV are there for her, a generational talent who has captured the interest of basketball and non-sports fans alike. It is her name and number on the backs of the majority of fans in both home and visiting arenas, and her likeness on billboards and TV commercials.
But “The Clark Effect,” as it is known, wouldn’t be without the Iowa teammates who have suited up next to her over the years.
They all wear “Iowa” on the front of their jerseys, just as fans have on the front of Clark’s T-shirts, and she makes sure the spotlight is widened to credit them whenever possible. It’s one way she’s taken more leadership of a new group after three years of the same starters, and a big reason Iowa is in a position to return to the Final Four.
“My teammates, I’m just so thankful,” Clark said the night she passed Kelsey Plum’s all-time NCAA DI women’s scoring record in February. “They let me be me and I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for them.”
“Everyone on that team loves her,” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said. “They are not jealous of her.
They know how hard she works for it. And they know what she brings to our team. So I’m very thankful that I have a group of women that understand that.”
Clark, the No. 4 overall recruit in the 2020 class, is the only five-star recruit on Iowa’s roster, and the first since current assistant coach Tania Davis in the class of 2015, according to ESPN HoopGurlz data. None of the teammates who played alongside Clark over the past four seasons entered college as five-star recruits and only a few cracked the top 100 recruiting rankings. Three of those, including No. 45 overall recruit Stuelke, are recent Iowa additions as part of the 2022 class. No one ranked higher than No. 39.
Clark’s ability to find teammates even when they don’t think they’re open makes everyone around her better, lifting the team into the top of the Associated Press poll and title talk. She’s the Division I assists leader for a third consecutive season, averaging a career-best 8.7 per game as a senior and 8.1 over her career. In 92 of her 100 collegiate games heading into this year, that supporting cast looked the same. Their experience with each other was a large reason the Hawkeyes ran through the NCAA tournament last year to the program’s first national title game, where they lost to LSU.
Two of those four familiar faces remain.
Kate Martin earned her first all-Big Ten honor this week on the second team and is the first Iowa player to reach at least 900 points, 500 rebounds, 400 assists, 120 steals and 60 blocks in a career. Fans call the fifth-year guard and captain who grew up attending Iowa camps “the glue.”
Fifth-year guard Gabbie Marshall is “the spark” and her 3-pointers at pivotal moments elicit similar roars from fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena as Clark’s barrage from deep. She was named to the All-Big Ten Tournament team last year and became the first Hawkeye with 200 made 3s and 200 steals in a career.
Outside of the key returners, there were starters playing alongside an even-better Clark who didn’t know how fast and hard her high-IQ passes came into their hands. Or to always have your head up and ready in transition, even if you don’t think you’re open. They had to step up and fill in as chemistry built between them.
Molly Davis, who transferred in 2022 from Central Michigan as a steady ball-handler (she leads the team in assist-to-turnover rate at +2.51), moved into a starter role and is hopeful to return after injuring her knee against Ohio State. Iowa said in a release the fifth-year senior will undergo physical therapy this week to “improve mobility for postseason play.”
Stuelke, the reigning Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year, faced one of the toughest tasks of any Iowa player. She took over the center position from Monika Czinano, a WNBA Draft pick with a lengthy resumé as one-half of the pick-and-roll happy “Law Firm” with Clark. In her first year as a starter, Stuelke has shown flashes of stardom and earned all-Big Ten second-team honors this week.
CLARK’S SUPPORTING CAST
After Clark one-upped Stuelke’s career-high 47-point performance that featured 15 assists by the point guard, the two joked about going back-and-forth for Carver Hawkeye-Arena records. Clark, after scoring a historic 49 against Michigan, told a packed interview room that Stuelke “better break” the single-game record.
“I think that just speaks to our culture and the team coach Bluder has built here,” Clark said. “You just want to see your teammates succeed. I was so happy for [Stuelke] the other night. I’m perfectly fine with Hannah going out and scoring 50 next game. So hopefully she does that.”
Stuelke scoring half of Iowa’s average game total is only going to help Clark achieve her ultimate goal of winning an NCAA national championship. She has honored each record as it came, using it to shine attention on former record-holders and other top performers around the country. But a title still eludes her with only one chance left after she announced she would enter the WNBA Draft in April.
That, more than a scoring record, takes a team-wide effort. It begins on Friday with the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals (6:30 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network) when No. 2 seed Iowa plays the winner of No. 7 Penn State vs. No. 10 Wisconsin in Minneapolis. Tournament tickets sold out weeks ago as another entry of The Clark Effect that most recently led to a Travis Scott sighting in Iowa City.
After team photos with the Billboard chart topper and 20 minutes of autographs for fans hanging into the tunnel, Clark entered another full media room. Cameras lined the back wall and media members piled in for quotes about another record-breaking day and yet another 30-plus point outing.
Clark was asked how it came to be that four years ago she was playing in front of a cardboard cutout of her dog because of COVID-19 fan restrictions and now in a sold-out arena with Scott, four-time WNBA champion Maya Moore and Jake from State Farm courtside.
She loved every minute of it, she said. Through ups and downs, she said she matured to handle and balance the frenzy of attention.
And then there were her teammates, who also had to live up to that pressure cooker surrounding them and did it well. Carver-Hawkeye Arena is as loud for Clark’s points as they are for everyone else.
“You can just feel the energy and the joy and the excitement that our team plays with and that’s contagious,” Clark said. “That’s what’s been so fun about this whole ride is the style of basketball we play. People love it. They’re not just here for me. I’m sure I help, but at the end of the day, we have a really great team and a really great culture. And that’s what makes it so fun.”
Hot news: Caitlin Clark The Cutest Human Ever! Iowa Hawkeyes posted funny moments of Clark being herself and it’s so happy to watch! Caitlin Clark has captured hearts worldwide not only with her remarkable basketball s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s but also with her undeniable charm and infectious smile.
Often described as the cutest human ever, Clark’s charisma radiates both on and off the court, endearing her to fans of all ages. With her bubbly personality and genuine enthusiasm, she effortlessly steals the spotlight wherever she goes.
Whether she’s dazzling on the basketball court or simply flashing her trademark smile, Caitlin Clark continues to win hearts and solidify her status as one of the most beloved figures in sports.
Watch the funny clip below!
Iowa star Caitlin Clark declares for WNBA draft, will skip final season of college eligibility
Iowa star Caitlin Clark, who is on the verge of becoming the all-time NCAA scoring leader in college basketball, announced Thursday she will leave the Hawkeyes after this season and enter the WNBA draft.
“While this season is far from over and we have a lot more goals to achieve, it will be my last one at Iowa,” Clark wrote on social media.
Clark has become the focal point of women’s basketball, with her flashy play and 3-point shot, often from the on-court logo.
Many players would be benched for shooting from so far out, but Clark has the green light from her coach and has delivered while also finding her teammates and hitting the boards.
The guard, with one more year of eligibility, became the all-time leading women’s scorer in major college basketball by scoring 33 points to pass Lynette Woodard and post her 17th career triple-double in a 108-60 victory over Minnesota on Wednesday night.
In her announcement, she thanked her teammates, coaches and the thousands of fans who have packed arenas across the country to watch her and the sixth-ranked Hawkeyes.
Those fans were chanting “One more year! One more year!” while Clark was being interviewed on the court Wednesday night, when she also broke the NCAA single-season record by sinking eight 3-pointers for a total of 156.
She has 3,650 career points. Woodard had 3,649 points for Kansas from 1977-81, before the NCAA sanctioned the sport. Earlier this month, Clark broke Kelsey Plum’s NCAA scoring record (3,527 points).
Next up is the overall NCAA scoring record of Pete Maravich, who is just 17 points ahead of her.
Clark is expected to be the top pick in the draft on April 15.
The Indiana Fever, who have the first pick, indicated on social media shortly after Clark’s announcement that they intend to select her.
“We’re just simply reminding you that there are only 46 days until the 2024 WNBA Draft,” the team posted after dropping a link to its game tickets and a conspicuous “No. 1.”
The Fever had the first pick in last year’s draft as well. They selected Aliyah Boston out of South Carolina. The forward is averaging 14.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.
The two former Associated Press players of the year sat down for an interview with NBC Sports in October.
“Well, the Indiana Fever could have the first pick, so people may, may or not, may not, maybe will, have the duo. I don’t know?” Clark said to a laughing Boston. “It remains to be seen. But me and Aliyah may be teammates at some point, you never know.”
Clark went on to say in the interview that “your time in college is so special and it’s different from being a pro.”
“I want to experience every single moment and really soak it in,” she said.
Clark’s final regular-season home game at Iowa is likely to bring one of the priciest tickets in women’s college basketball history.
The cheapest ticket listed Thursday on TickPick.com for the Sunday game against No. 2 Ohio State was $481.
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