Caitlin Clark selected by Indiana Fever with top pick in WNBA draft

NEW YORK – NCAA championship game. “Saturday Night Live.” “Today” show.

Such was the whirlwind of the past eight days for Caitlin Clark leading up to Monday’s WNBA draft at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Now college basketball’s all-time leading scorer officially has a new home that’s not far from the homes she has known her entire life. The West Des Moines native – a star for the past four years at the University of Iowa – was selected by the Indiana Fever with the No. 1 pick.

“I know the Indiana Hoosiers didn’t love me too much during my career; hopefully we can turn a lot of them into Fever fans if they’re not already,” Clark said.

The Clark effect, which helped produce the three most-watched women’s college basketball games ever, is already being felt across the league. The national broadcast schedule features 36 of the Fever’s 40 games – and Indiana hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2016. The average ticket price to see the Fever in 2024 has more than doubled, according to Vivid Seats.

“We haven’t seen a player drive ticket sales like this,” ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo said last week. “We haven’t seen a player drive ratings like this. … One of the things that’s kind of special about it is that she’s staying in the Midwest, going to Indiana. It’s such a perfect fit in terms of that.

“The hero of the heartland is going to be staying there and leading this team. But in terms of attention, we’ve never, ever, ever seen anything like this.”

After Clark, Stanford center Cameron Brink was selected second by the Los Angeles Sparks as the franchise begins its rebuild after former MVP and franchise cornerstone Nneka Ogwumike signed with the Seattle Storm. The team also traded away Jordin Canada and went into the draft with the No. 2 and No. 4 picks. The 6-foot-4 Brink averaged 17.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and a nation-best 3.7 blocks as a senior.

That No. 4 pick was then used on Tennessee forward Rickea Jackson, a 6-2 wing who averaged 20.2 points and 8.2 rebounds in her fifth collegiate season.

South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso went No. 3 to the Chicago Sky. In leading the Gamecocks to their second national championship in three years, the 6-7 Brazilian averaged 14.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks – all team highs – in just 25.3 minutes per game.

Cardoso will pair her with conference rival Angel Reese, who was selected seventh by the Chicago Sky. Reese became the best-known player in the college ranks behind Clark the past two seasons at LSU. The Baltimore native transferred from Maryland after her sophomore year and immediately led the Tigers to the 2023 national championship. She averaged a double-double in both of her seasons in Baton Rouge, with career highs of 23.0 points and 15.4 rebounds in 2022-23. The three-time all-American was named the 2023-24 SEC player of the year.

“I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Reese said about her decision to enter the draft. “Obviously, coming back would have been amazing for me, but I wanted more for myself. I wanted to start over. I feel like I had been at a high since the national championship, and I want to hit rock bottom. I want to be a rookie again. I want to be knocked down by vets, and I want to be able to get up and grow and be a sponge. I’m just super excited to play with the amazing players and against amazing players.”

Cardoso added, “Nobody is going to get no rebounds on us.”

The Reese-Clark showdowns in the 2023 championship game and then again in the Elite Eight this season prompted national headlines and drew comparisons to the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird rivalry from college and into the NBA in a previous era. But Reese has a different skill set.

“Rebounding translates,” ESPN analyst Andraya Carter said last week. “Rebounding and relentless energy and playing with that spark. I know so many times this season I called Angel relentless. … Spending time watching Angel in practice sometimes, Angel is a thinker. She likes to think the game. She likes to learn the game. I actually think she would do really well learning from veterans and listening and doing whatever the team needed.”

Ohio State’s Jacy Sheldon went fifth to Dallas, the first true surprise of the draft. Sheldon gives the organization a point guard to play alongside Arike Ogunbowale and what was the biggest roster in the league last season. The second-team all-American averaged 17.8 points and 3.8 assists while shooting a career-high 37.3 percent from behind the arc for the Buckeyes.

There was some thought the Washington Mystics would be interested in Sheldon to address their need for a guard or wing, but they landed Connecticut power forward Aaliyah Edwards, one of the top frontcourt players in the draft. The 6-3 Canadian averaged career highs in points (17.6) and rebounds (9.2) in 2023-24.

The rest of the first round featured Utah forward Alissa Pili (No. 8 to Minnesota Lynx), French guard Carla Leite (No. 9 to Dallas), French guard Leila Lacan (No. 10 to the Connecticut Sun), Mississippi guard Marquesha Davis (No. 11 to New York Liberty) and Australian forward/center Nyadiew Puoch (No. 12 to Atlanta Dream).

Clark, meanwhile, will pair in Indiana with 2023 No. 1 pick Aliyah Boston, who was named rookie of the year and made the All-Star Game. Clark and Boston seem to be – at least on paper – a perfect combination. Boston is a 6-5 center with soft hands and supreme footwork, and she gets a 6-foot point guard with elite vision and passing ability on top of shooting range that begins at half-court. They could be a high-level inside-out combination for years to come.

“The biggest thing is definitely my passing,” Clark said. “I think that’s, at times, what gets overlooked in my game. I think the scoring and the long shots is what everybody falls in love with. Then obviously going to an organization that has, in my eyes, one of the best post players in the entire world. My point guard eyes just light up at that. … I can’t wait.”

Clark took home nearly every individual accolade a player could win, including two national player of the year awards and first-team all-American honors the past three years. In her regular season home finale, she surpassed Pete Maravich to become the highest-scoring collegiate player in history, men’s or women’s.