EIGHT NEWS AT TEN STARTS RIGHT NOW. WE’RE COVERED BY GABBY MARSHALL. HERE COMES CLARKE. HOW WILL SHE GO FOR HISTORY? THE ALL TIME LEADING SCORER IN WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL. I’M SOMEBODY THAT HAS REALLY BIG DREAMS, GOALS AND ASPIRATIONS. BUT I THINK TO, LIKE, PUT IT ON THIS LEVEL AND LIKE THIS MAGNITUDE, LIKE THAT WOULD BE CRAZY FOR ME TO SAY. I THINK THIS IS ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY. IT’S SUPER COOL THAT IT’S HAPPENING AT OUR SCHOOL, THAT WE GET TO WATCH IT. I LOVE WATCHING HER AND I LOVE WHEN SHE HITS LIKE A DEEP. THE DEEPER DEEP THREES AND THAT JUST MAKES THE CROWD A LOT. AND I LIKE THAT PART. OH, I’VE GOT CHILLS. THAT WAS SO GREAT. HISTORY IS MADE IN IOWA CITY TONIGHT. A BIG NIGHT FOR THE HAWKEYES. AND SUPERSTAR CAITLIN CLARK. THE SENSATION. SENIOR SCORED 49 POINTS AGAINST MICHIGAN. BREDA HER CAREER HIGH. SHE NOW TAKES THE NUMBER ONE SPOT IN THE NCAA SCORING RECORD, DOMINATING THE PREVIOUS RECORD SET BY KELSEY PLUM. OKAY, SO CLARK’S CAREER SCORING TOTAL NOW 3569 POINTS. AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF, NUMBER FOUR IOWA DEFEATS MICHIGAN AT CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA TONIGHT. THE CAITLIN CLARK EFFECT IS INFECTIOUS AS HAWKEYE FANS ARE GOING CRAZY FOR THE SENIORS. HISTORIC BASKETBALL CAREER. NOT ONLY IS SHE GETTING SPECIAL RECOGNITION AT HOME, BUT ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND KCCI HAS LIVE TEAM COVERAGE FROM CARVER HAWKEYE ARENA. TONIGHT WE’LL START THINGS OFF WITH SPORTS DIRECTOR SCOTT REISTER SCOTT. WHAT AN UNFORGETTABLE NIGHT. IT WAS AMAZING. TO BE HERE IN WITNESS HISTORY ON THIS COURT AT CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA. THE BIGGEST NIGHT IN THE HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM, SAVE FOR POSSIBLY UPSETTING SOUTH CAROLINA AT THE FINAL FOUR IN DALLAS LAST MARCH. BUT THIS HAPPENED HERE. BIGGEST NIGHT IN THIS BUILDING, BAR NONE. IT WASN’T A MATTER OF IF CAITLIN CLARK WOULD GET THOSE EIGHT POINTS. ONLY A MATTER OF WHEN SHE WOULD GET THOSE, AND SHE CAME OUT SWINGING AFTER THAT LOSS TO NEBRASKA. STARTED WITH A QUICK THREE, A DRIVE, AND THEN HERE IS THE HISTORY. AND THE ONLY WAY SHE COULD HAVE DONE IT. THAT LOGO THREE. SHE GOT HER EIGHTH POINT IN THE RECORD JUST TWO MINUTES AND 12 SECONDS INTO THE NIGHT. WE GOT A COUPLE DIFFERENT ANGLES FOR YOU HERE. AS YOU SEE THE PLACE ERUPTED. I MEAN, LOOK AT THE RANGE SIGNATURE. CLARK, WHAT A MOMENT. HER PATENTED LOGO THREE. HER HIGH SCHOOL COACH AT DALZELL AND KRISTEN MEYER WAS HERE IN THE BUILDING, TOLD ME BEFORE THE GAME THAT CAITLIN WOULD GET A CAREER HIGH. SHE CALLED IT, AND MEYER WAS RIGHT. THE FIRST QUARTER JAW DROPPING. SHE JUST KEPT ON TAKING AND MAKING LOGOS. HER FIRST QUARTER STATS 23 POINTS IN THE FIRST QUARTER SHOT FIVE OF SEVEN FROM THREE. IN THE FIRST QUARTER, SHE WAS ON PACE FOR 92 POINTS AT THIS. OF COURSE, SHE DIDN’T GET THAT. SHE SLOWED DOWN A BIT AFTER THAT, BUT NOT BY MUCH. I WILL LET MICHIGAN BIG ALL NIGHT, AND WITH TWO MINUTES LEFT IN THE GAME, SHE HAD 46. HOW ABOUT ONE MORE? HER NINTH THREE OF THE GAME? BOONE IT. SHE WAS NINE OF 18 FROM THREE, FINISHED WITH 49 POINTS, 13 ASSISTS, FIVE REBOUNDS, SHOT, 16 OF 31 OVERALL, 49 POINTS. BLUDER TOOK HER OUT FOR AN OVATION WITH ABOUT A MINUTE LEFT. OTHERWISE SHE WOULD HAVE HAD MORE IOWA WON 106 89. THEN IT WAS TIME TO CELEBRATE. AFTER THEY JUMPED AROUND, THINGS GOT EMOTIONAL AS A VIDEO TRIBUTE PLAYED. CLARKE TEARED UP AS HER FAMILY AND TEAMMATES AND COACHES THE RECORDED MESSAGES THAT PLAYED OVER THE BIG BOARD HERE AT CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA. CAITLIN SOAKED IT ALL IN AND- THEN CONFETTI CAME DOWN HERD- TEAMMATES PICKED HER UP SO CELEBRATING HER UP IN THE AIR. AN AMAZING MOMENT THAT NO ONE HERE WILL EVER FORGET. ESPECIALLY THE WOMAN OF THE HOUR, CAITLIN CLARK, THE NEW ALL TIME SCORING LEADER. MY SHOT JUST FELT GOOD, SO I KNEW IT WAS GOING TO BE KIND OF ONE OF THOSE NIGHTS AND KIND OF PLAYED WITH A LITTLE BIT MORE PEP IN MY STEP. AND, UM, I KNEW THAT’S WHAT THIS TEAM NEEDED. AFTER COMING OFF OF COMING OFF OF A LOSS AND, UM, JUST JUST LUCKY, LIKE MY TEAMMATES. I’M JUST SO THANKFUL THEY LET ME BE ME AND I WOULDN’T BE WHERE I AM IF IT WASN’T FOR THEM. SO, UM. YEAH, I’M JUST JUST REALLY THANKFUL. I’M JUST FILLED WITH SO MUCH GRATITUDE AND LOVE AND, UM, THE WAY THESE FANS SUPPORT WOMEN’S BASKETBALL IS SO MUCH SPECIAL IS SO SPECIAL. AND, UM, YEAH, I MEAN, YOU ALL KNEW I WAS GOING TO SHOOT A LOGO. THREE FOR THE RECORD. COME ON NOW. YES, THE EYES OF THE BASKETBALL UNIVERSE SAW HER MAKE THAT. YOU KNEW SHE WOULD DO IT RIGHT. AN AMAZING ENVIRONMENT HERE. FANS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, MEDIA FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. BEAU BOWMAN RIGHT IN THE THICK OF IT. BO JOINING US NOW. AND THIS WAS HISTORY THAT SO MANY GOT TO WITNESS. BO. YEAH. SCOTT, THERE’S BEEN SO MUCH ANTICIPATION, SO MUCH BUZZ, SO MUCH HYPE, WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT. LEADING UP TO THIS MOMENT. AND IT’S RARE IN THE WORLD THAT ALL THAT HYPE LIVES UP TO THE ACTUAL MOMENT. BUT TONIGHT, IT DEFINITELY DID. FOR MORE THAN AN HOUR, FANS LINED UP OUTSIDE CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA. WONDERFUL. JUST TO SEE WHAT CAITLIN’S. DONE FOR THE SPORT. WAITING TO GET IN AND WITNESS HISTORY. OH, IT WAS WICKED. HONESTLY. LIKE, OH MY GOD, LIKE I BLEW MY MIND. IT WAS AMAZING AND IT WAS DEAFENING. IT WAS SO LOUD. EXPLODED. YEAH, I THINK THAT’S THE LOUDEST I’VE EVER HEARD IT. CAITLIN CLARKE PUTTING ON A SHOW FOR THOSE WHO TRAVELED FROM FAR AND WIDE WITH 23 POINTS IN THE FIRST QUARTER, CARVER EXPLODED OVER AND OVER. WOMEN BASKETBALL’S ALL TIME LEADING SCORER, CLAIMING HER CROWN WITH AUTHORITY. ALL THE KIDS WHO HAVE ADMIRED HER FOR YEARS LEFT SPEECHLESS WITH EACH THREE. IT WAS REALLY COIN. SHE DOES SHOTS FROM LIKE EVERYWHERE WHERE IT’S LIKE YOU KILL HER SOMEWHERE TO SHOOT FROM AND SHE’S PROBABLY GONNA DO IT. YEAH, AND EACH HAWKEYE HERE THURSDAY NIGHT LEFT WITH A MEMORY. THEY WON’T FORGET. IT WAS ELECTRIC. IT WAS SUPER LOUD. EVERYONE JUMPING UP, CLAPPING. I MEAN, DEAFENING IN A WORD, CRAZY. I STILL HAVE ADRENALINE FROM IT. IT’S CRAZY. CANADA HAVE DRAWN IT UP. ANY BETTER. WITH ALL THE RECORD SHE HIT TONIGHT. NOT JUST THE ALL TIME LEADING SCORER IN WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL HISTORY, BUT THE PROGRAM SCORER. 49 POINTS TONIGHT IN CARVER HAWKEYE ARENA. A CAREER HIGH AS WELL. JUST COULDN’T HAVE DRAWN IT UP ANY BETTER. COACH BLUDER SAID THAT AS WELL. SCOTT. BO YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP. SIMPLY SENSATIONAL AND THE DOWLING COACHES SHE HAD IN HIGH SCHOOL GOT TICKETS. JAN JANSEN, ASSISTANT COACH AT IOWA, SURPRISED THEM. SO THEY WERE HERE. AND YOU LOOK BACK AT HER DAYS AT DOWLING WHERE SHE JUST PUT ON A SHOW AS A SENIOR. AVERAGED 33.5 POINTS, EIGHT REBOUNDS, FOUR ASSISTS. AND THEN SHE LED THE STATE IN SCORING THAT YEAR AS A SENIOR FOR THE SECOND TIME. UH, YOU KNOW, FANS ACROSS THE NATION GLUED TO THEIR SCREENS OR THEIR TABLETS AND THEIR PHONES
Is Caitlin Clark headed to the WNBA? Here’s what the star has said about her future plans
Everyone wants to know if this Hawkeye is heading to the pros.
Updated: 7:20 AM CST Feb 18, 2024
On Thursday night, college basketball star Caitlin Clark became the NCAA women’s all-time leading scorer. The 22-year-old, who plays guard for the University of Iowa, smashed the record with a three-point shot from center court in a game against Michigan, surpassing University of Washington star Kelsey Plum’s previous 3,527-point lead, per Fox Sports. “I don’t know if you can really script it any better,” Clark said after the game, according to The Guardian. Ultimately, Clark scored 49 points in the Hawkeyes’ 106-89 win against Michigan. Of course, Clark is no stranger to making sports history. She’s already the only Division I women’s basketball player to score 3,000 points and complete 1,000 assists, CNN reports. In January, she became the all-time leading scorer in the Big Ten thanks to a resounding performance against Northwestern, according to CBS.Plus, she might have another record on the horizon: The men’s Division I scoring record of 3,667 points, currently held by Pete Maravich, who played for the LSU Tigers from 1967 to 1970. With five more regular season games and playoffs left to go, Clark is currently on track to pass him, per ESPN. Clark’s record-breaking season also happens to be her fourth at the University of Iowa, which brings up questions about her plans after graduation. Here’s everything to know about her future plans, including a potential career in the WNBA.She’s currently a senior at the University of IowaAs an Iowa native, Clark chose the school, in part, because it was close to home; she also looked forward to the crowd’s energy. “If anybody watched me in high school, they know that I live for a packed gym,” she told Des Moines Register. “And honestly that’s one of the reasons I came to Iowa, because the support of the women’s basketball team is so good. I just thrive off of crazy crowds.”The choice quickly paid off for the Hawkeyes: Clark is the team’s all-time leading scorer. She was also named the AP National Player of the Week and Big Ten Player of the Week several times, and holds the Big Ten record for most weekly awards at 25, according to sister station KCCI.She has a fifth year of eligibilityClark has an extra year of eligibility on the Hawkeyes women’s basketball team thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected her freshman year of college. The NCAA allows student-athletes who competed in the 2020-2021 season to have an extra year of eligibility if they want to, so Clark could continue her winning streak at Iowa, per ESPN.She could use that time to begin her master’s or get another bachelor’s degree, according to Clark herself in a December 2023 SiriusXM interview with Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, per Fox Sports. Clark is currently an honors student in marketing, according to the school. She’s projected to be the No. 1 draft pickAs Clark weighs her options, she’s already getting quite a lot of buzz around the topic of the WNBA draft. If she joins the draft, she’s projected to be the No. 1 pick, per ESPN. She’d likely go to the Indiana FeverFor the second year in a row, Indiana Fever has the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA draft. So, if Clark decides to leave college sports and go pro, she could very well end up here, per The Indianapolis Star. In December, coaches from Indiana watched the Iowa game against Loyola University Chicago to check out Clark’s performance, the newspaper reported. She makes thousands from her name, image and likeness dealsThanks to her name, image and likeness deals, Clark currently makes more than she would with a base salary in the WNBA. She currently has ten separate NIL deals, including sponsorships with Nike, Gatorade, State Farm and Topps, per Hawkeyes Wire. Including those partnerships, she’s currently valued at over $800,000, according to the sports recruiting database On3.Meanwhile, a base salary in the WNBA is a little over $76,000, per the Chicago Tribune. She’s still undecided about her futureClark is still making her choice. When Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski asked Clark about the potential of going pro in December, the Iowa star said there’s no wrong decision, per Fox Sports.“It’s a hard decision because, in my eyes, it’s like a win-win,” she told Krzyzewski on his SiriusXM show, according to the outlet. “I can go and live out a life of a dream, or I can stay and be in college — start working on my master’s or start working on another degree and still play college basketball with some of my best friends. That’s what makes it so hard. Both seem so amazing.”
On Thursday night, college basketball star Caitlin Clark became the NCAA women’s all-time leading scorer. The 22-year-old, who plays guard for the University of Iowa, smashed the record with a three-point shot from center court in a game against Michigan, surpassing University of Washington star Kelsey Plum’s previous 3,527-point lead, per Fox Sports.
“I don’t know if you can really script it any better,” Clark said after the game, according to The Guardian. Ultimately, Clark scored 49 points in the Hawkeyes’ 106-89 win against Michigan.
Of course, Clark is no stranger to making sports history. She’s already the only Division I women’s basketball player to score 3,000 points and complete 1,000 assists, CNN reports. In January, she became the all-time leading scorer in the Big Ten thanks to a resounding performance against Northwestern, according to CBS.
Plus, she might have another record on the horizon: The men’s Division I scoring record of 3,667 points, currently held by Pete Maravich, who played for the LSU Tigers from 1967 to 1970. With five more regular season games and playoffs left to go, Clark is currently on track to pass him, per ESPN.
Clark’s record-breaking season also happens to be her fourth at the University of Iowa, which brings up questions about her plans after graduation. Here’s everything to know about her future plans, including a potential career in the WNBA.
She’s currently a senior at the University of Iowa
As an Iowa native, Clark chose the school, in part, because it was close to home; she also looked forward to the crowd’s energy.
“If anybody watched me in high school, they know that I live for a packed gym,” she told Des Moines Register. “And honestly that’s one of the reasons I came to Iowa, because the support of the women’s basketball team is so good. I just thrive off of crazy crowds.”
The choice quickly paid off for the Hawkeyes: Clark is the team’s all-time leading scorer. She was also named the AP National Player of the Week and Big Ten Player of the Week several times, and holds the Big Ten record for most weekly awards at 25, according to sister station KCCI.
She has a fifth year of eligibility
Clark has an extra year of eligibility on the Hawkeyes women’s basketball team thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected her freshman year of college. The NCAA allows student-athletes who competed in the 2020-2021 season to have an extra year of eligibility if they want to, so Clark could continue her winning streak at Iowa, per ESPN.
She could use that time to begin her master’s or get another bachelor’s degree, according to Clark herself in a December 2023 SiriusXM interview with Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, per Fox Sports. Clark is currently an honors student in marketing, according to the school.
She’s projected to be the No. 1 draft pick
As Clark weighs her options, she’s already getting quite a lot of buzz around the topic of the WNBA draft. If she joins the draft, she’s projected to be the No. 1 pick, per ESPN.
She’d likely go to the Indiana Fever
For the second year in a row, Indiana Fever has the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA draft. So, if Clark decides to leave college sports and go pro, she could very well end up here, per The Indianapolis Star.
In December, coaches from Indiana watched the Iowa game against Loyola University Chicago to check out Clark’s performance, the newspaper reported.
She makes thousands from her name, image and likeness deals
Thanks to her name, image and likeness deals, Clark currently makes more than she would with a base salary in the WNBA. She currently has ten separate NIL deals, including sponsorships with Nike, Gatorade, State Farm and Topps, per Hawkeyes Wire. Including those partnerships, she’s currently valued at over $800,000, according to the sports recruiting database On3.
Meanwhile, a base salary in the WNBA is a little over $76,000, per the Chicago Tribune.
She’s still undecided about her future
Clark is still making her choice. When Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski asked Clark about the potential of going pro in December, the Iowa star said there’s no wrong decision, per Fox Sports.
“It’s a hard decision because, in my eyes, it’s like a win-win,” she told Krzyzewski on his SiriusXM show, according to the outlet. “I can go and live out a life of a dream, or I can stay and be in college — start working on my master’s or start working on another degree and still play college basketball with some of my best friends. That’s what makes it so hard. Both seem so amazing.”
