Icon of college basketball Caitlin Clark Decides to Enter the Women’s NBA Draft

Leading scorer in college basketball history, Caitlin Clark of Iowa, said on Thursday that she would be leaving the Hawkeyes at the end of this season to join the WNBA draft.

Clark said on social media, “This will be my last season at Iowa, but it’s far from over and we have a lot more goals to achieve.”

Clark’s spectacular performance and 3-point shot, which often comes from the on-court logo, have made her the center of attention in women’s basketball. For shooting from such a long range, many players would be benched, but Clark has her coach’s approval and has performed well while finding her teammates and grabbing rebounds.

With one more year of eligibility left, the guard defeated Minnesota 108–60 on Wednesday night, scoring 33 points to surpass Lynette Woodard and record her 17th career triple-double. This became her the all-time top women’s scorer in major college basketball.

She praised her teammates, coaches, and the thousands of spectators that flocked to arenas throughout the nation to see her and the Hawkeyes, who are now ranked sixth, in her statement.

As Clark was being interviewed on the floor on Wednesday night, the fans were yelling, “One more year! One more year!” She had also broken the NCAA single-season record by making eight 3-pointers for a total of 156 points.

3,650 career points are hers. From 1977 to 1981, Woodard scored 3,649 points for Kansas before the NCAA approved the sport. Clark surpassed Kelsey Plum’s NCAA scoring record (3,527 points) earlier this month.

Next comes Pete Maravich’s all-time NCAA scoring record, which is just 17 points higher than hers.

On April 15, Clark is anticipated to be the first choice in the draft.

Shortly after Clark’s statement, the Indiana Fever, who hold the first selection, announced on social media that they want to draft her.

The club shared a link to their game tickets along with a prominent “No. 1” and said, “We’re just simply reminding you that there are only 46 days until the 2024 WNBA Draft.”