Caitlin Clark Declares for 2024 WNBA Draft
It's time.
Legendary Iowa guard Caitlin Clark announced her decision to enter the 2024 WNBA Draft on social media Thursday afternoon, ending months of speculation about the legendary guard's future.
Clark, who is averaging 32.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game for the No. 6 Hawkeyes, most recently set the major-college career scoring record in a scintillating performance at Minnesota Wednesday night, and also set the NCAA's single-season three-pointer record and the Big Ten's career three-pointer record that night. At 3,650 career points, she is only 18 points away from former LSU great Pete Maravich for the NCAA's major-college career scoring record, men or women.
Clark is widely expected to go first overall in the draft to the Indiana Fever, who selected fellow former AP National Player of the Year Aliyah Boston of South Carolina first overall in the 2023 Draft. Clark and Boston should instantly become one of the most dangerous inside-outside duos in the WNBA, though the Fever (13-27 in 2023) have plenty of rebuilding still left to do before they can be serious contenders to the likes of two-time defending champions Las Vegas.
"While this season is far from over and we have a lot more goals to achieve," Clark's statement reads, "it will be my last one at Iowa. I am excited to be entering the 2024 WNBA Draft."
Clark continues: "It is impossible to fully express my gratitude to everyone who has supported me during my time at Iowa — my teammates, who made the last four years the best; my coaches, trainers and staff who always let me be me; Hawkeye fans who filled Carver every night; and everyone who came out to support us across the country, especially the young kids.
"Most importantly, none of this would have been possible without my family and friends who have been by my side through it all. Because of all of you, my dreams came true," the statement concludes.
TEAM IMPACT
Iowa will be losing the most impactful player college basketball has seen in a long time. There's no way around that fact, and there's no "replacing" a singular force like Caitlin Clark.
Bluder and her staff are acutely aware of this, of course; they spent this past offseason warning Iowa fans that there was no "replacing" a player like former Iowa center Monika Czinano, who graduated in 2023 as an All-American and WNBA draftee in her own right.
The announcement means that Iowa's leading returning scorers next year, assuming all with eligibility choose to return, will be as follows (scoring is as of Wednesday's Minnesota game):
F Hannah Stuelke: 14.1 ppg
G/F Sydney Affolter: 7.1 ppg
C Sharon Goodman: 5.1 ppg
Obviously, those figures will likely rise substantially with more minutes and shots to be allocated. Stuelke in particular looks poised for a leap into stardom, though defenses will be able to focus more attention on the rising junior next season.
For perimeter scoring, though, Iowa will have to rely on the likes of Kylie Feuerbach and Taylor McCabe, who have both been excellent spot-up shooters this season but haven't been primary ball-handlers at the Big Ten level. 2023 recruit Kennise Johnson and incoming freshman Aaliyah Guyton (who is recovering from a torn ACL in late December) both have more traditional point-guard skills, but Johnson has been at the end of Iowa's bench rotation all season and Guyton will have her own adjustment period.
The stage is set, then, for Iowa to court a (very, very) high-level transfer to assume the mantle of superstar in Iowa City. Bluder and her staff have demonstrated their ability to accommodate a level of talent rarely seen in college basketball, and who wouldn't want their turn in Clark's shoes?
Regardless, if there was any lingering doubt about whether the Hawkeyes would look different on the court next season, it is now set to leave alongside Clark when Iowa's season is over, whenever the NCAA tournament gods deem it fit.