Clark’s accomplishments are adding up

The past year has been an exciting one for Caitlin Clark, with many awards and accolades. These are the Top 4 things Caitlin Clark accomplished this year. 

1. Many Awards 

Caitlin Clark had a historic 2023-24 season. From winning many in-season awards such as B1G Player of the Week multiple times, becoming the all-time leading scorer at Iowa, in the B1G, D1, and Nationally in both Men’s and Women’s Basketball. She also won many postseason awards as well. Including, 

•   Unanimous Big Ten Player of the Year
•   First-team All-Big Ten
•   Naismith Player of the Year for the second year in a row
•   AP Player of the Year for the second year in a row
•   Honda Sports Award for the second year in a row
•   Second consecutive Wooden Award
•   Third Nancy Lieberman Award
•   Second consecutive James E. Sullivan Award 

2.         Helped lead Iowa to second consecutive NCAA Championship game.

Caitlin Clark topped off her senior season by leading Iowa to their second consecutive NCAA Championship game. Throughout the season and NCAA Tournament Clark had been a standout for the Hawkeyes scoring nearly 200 points through the tournament alone. Clark scored 30 points in 40 minutes in the championship game. But it wasn’t enough to overpower a challenging South Carolina team, who went a perfect 38-0 through the 2023-24 season, Iowa lost in the Championship game for the second year in a row 87-75.

3.         Declared for WNBA Draft and got drafted #1

Before her senior night game at Iowa, Clark announced on social media that she would be declaring for the 2024 WNBA draft, a move that surprised none. She was expected to be the number one overall pick.

Clark said, “I think just going into senior night having that decision clear not only for myself but our fans and my teammates I think that was super important.” 

On top of declaring she also got drafted as expected as the Number One overall pick to the Indiana Fever. This would be the Fever’s second number-one pick, both being back-to-back. 

4.         Jersey Retirement

To top off her Iowa career Clark got her jersey retired at Iowa on February 2, 2025. The team announced her jersey retirement in a postseason celebration in the spring of 2024. Clark’s jersey being retired came as no surprise to no one. Clark holds the record in scoring at the university among other accolades. 

The former head coach for Iowa Lisa Bluder gave Clark her flowers saying, “I’ve spent my entire career trying to empower young women, that’s what it’s all about. You’ve done more of that in the last four years than anybody could imagine.” 

Many have long said since her freshman year at Iowa that she was “over-hyped,” a “ball hog,” or just any comment they can make to bring her down. However, I feel like the numbers and awards speak for themselves. Many have even said she grew the game. And the numbers speak for themselves there as well. 

In 2021 in the NCAA championship game, the viewership was 4 million. In 2022 it was at almost 5 million. When Caitlin Clark and Iowa played in 2023 it reached nearly 10 million viewers. When Iowa went back to the championship again in 2024 it reached almost 19 million viewers. That is four times as many viewers than it was back in 2021. The men’s championship game in 2024 only reached 14 million in 2024. All of this goes to show that Clark was worth the attention she was receiving and how she grew the game in ways others couldn’t.