Just shy of 3 weeks after Caitlin Clark broke the NCAA women’s basketball scoring leader record on February 15, 2024, Clark breaks the all-time NCAA scoring leader record on March 3, 2024. This historic moment came against Ohio State, in the final game of the regular season, on Clark’s senior night. Clark needed just 19 points to break the record, and she ended the game with 35 points. During the time between this final game and February 15th, Iowa had Clark’s number put on the court in the spot where she broke the NCAA women’s scoring record with a deep three. This time around, Clark broke the record standing alone at the free throw line just before the half. The previous all-time scoring record was set by Pete Maravich, commonly known as Pistol Pete, with 3,667 points which was set back in 1970 a 54-year-old record. Pistol Pete achieved all this during his 3 years at LSU and prior to their being a 3-point line. Nonetheless, Clark has earned her top spot on the charts, with remarkable seasons at the University of Iowa. Clark was highly recruited in high school but chose to stay home and turn around the women’s basketball program at Iowa, and she has done just that.[1] Iowa has never won a national championship, but Clark has led the program to March Madness appearances, as well as one championship appearance where they fell just short to LSU in 2023.[2]
Prior to the final game of the regular season, Clark was listed at number 32 on NIL valuation and following the game was listed at number 4, which also puts her as the number 2 woman in the NIL top 100, just barely behind Livvy Dunne. It is not common for an athlete to jump that high up; Clark had a 237% increase or $2.1 million increase in the past 4 weeks and that is solely due to her performances. Although NIL only applies to collegiate athletes, Clark’s brands will still follow her to the pros where she will continue to make money through brand deals.
Earlier this week, Clark took to Instagram to announce that she will be declaring for the 2024 WNBA draft. Clark has been expected to go as the number 1 pick in either the 2024 or the 2025 draft. It was unclear whether Clark would choose to declare this year, as she is eligible for one more year in college due to Covid, but ultimately Clark has chosen to wrap up her college career. There is no better way to go out of the NCAA than by breaking the record for all-time NCAA women’s basketball points, as well as the record for all-time NCAA men’s basketball points, putting her as the all-time NCAA scoring leader, all in one season. The Indiana Fever have the number 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA draft and are expecting to take Clark. Within days of Clark announcing she will be declaring for the draft, Indiana Fever’s ticket prices doubled.[3] This is the Caitlin Clark effect. She is selling out her college arenas, home and away, as well as impacting prices for a WNBA team that she is projected to go to. There was lots of talk whether Clark would be taking a pay cut by entering the draft, as the rookie contract for the WNBA is just above $75,000.[4] This is false, due to what I mentioned earlier in that the brands she has signed with will continue to work with her during her professional career. Clark will be just fine, as she is only 22 years old and is already valued at 3.1 million.[5] Clark has had an incredible collegiate career and is only going to get better and continue to break records. We can only hope she fulfills her dream of winning a national championship at Iowa, but at the rate she is going this season, that doesn’t seem too far-fetched!
[1] https://www.sportskeeda.com/college-basketball/why-caitlin-clark-go-iowa-exploring-star-guard-s-reasons-choosing-hawkeyes
[2] Id.
[3] https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/39625515/caitlin-clark-iowa-final-season-declares-wnba-enters-draft
[4] https://www.cbssports.com/womens-college-basketball/news/why-caitlin-clark-will-not-lose-money-for-opting-for-wnba-and-passing-on-final-year-of-collegiate-nil-deals/
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