- By Brandon Drenon
- BBC News
Image source, Getty Images
Women’s college basketball superstar Caitlin Clark has been drafted to the professional league as the No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever.
“I can’t wait,” said Clark, 22, who was expected to be the first to be selected by the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).
She is considered one of the greatest collegiate players of all time.
College athletes across the United States were also seeking their chance to turn professional during the annual WNBA draft.
Clark is the all-time leading scorer in men’s and women’s college basketball, accumulating the most three-pointers in a single season – a record previously held by professional player Steph Curry.
“I’m excited,” the former Iowa Hawkeyes sensation said during a news conference following Monday’s announcement.
“It’s the most competitive league in the world, with fewer than 144 spots. So you better compete every night.”
Clark said in an interview with ESPN: “I’ve been dreaming of this moment since I was in second grade, and it took a lot of hard work, a lot of ups and downs.”
She entered the WNBA draft after concluding her final season as a senior at the University of Iowa.
In her last game, Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes lost to the South Carolina Gamecocks on the biggest stage in sports: the women’s championship of the NCAA Tournament.
The game was one of the most watched in the history of college basketball – men’s or women’s – with 24 million spectators. Tickets were sold for as much as $11,000 (£8,850).
Many attribute the renewed interest in women’s college basketball to Clark. Her influence on the game has been dubbed the Caitlin Clark effect.
WNBA draft observers were also keeping an eye on Monday for Kamilla Cardoso of the University of South Carolina, who was drafted third by the Chicago Sky; and Angele Reese of Louisiana State University, who was also drafted by Chicago as the seventh pick.
Jenny Nyugen, owner of Sports Braw, an Oregon bar that shows only women’s sports, told the BBC: “I’ve been watching women’s basketball for decades.
“It feels like everyone is catching up…it’s time.”
