Clark, whose file scoring exploits garnered enormous media consideration in her remaining school season, was picked by the Indiana Fever.
Caitlin Clark, who smashed data on and off the courtroom in a blinding United States school profession, was chosen first within the WNBA draft amid expectations she could have a transformative impact on girls’s skilled basketball.
Clark, 22, was taken first total by the Indiana Fever on Monday evening – a staff that has not been to the playoffs since 2016 and had the second-lowest attendance within the league in 2023 with a median of 4,066 followers per recreation.
With the College of Iowa star becoming a member of final yr’s total prime decide Aliyah Boston in Indiana, nevertheless, all that appears set to alter.
In anticipation of her choice, the WNBA has already scheduled 36 of the Fever’s 40 video games subsequent season for nationwide tv.
Even earlier than the draft the Fever had begun promoting a restricted quantity of single-game tickets, betting that the basketball-mad Midwestern state of Indiana can be prime territory for “Clark mania”.
Seats for video games in opposition to Connecticut and Los Angeles offered out inside hours of happening sale.
Clark, whose fame is constructed on a basis of on-court excellence that noticed her eclipse Pete Maravich’s 54-year-old all-time school basketball scoring file, was cheered by followers on the Brooklyn Academy of Music, who packed the draft venue in anticipation that she would lead a star-studded WNBA class.
She admitted she felt anxious because the minutes ticked by earlier than the Fever introduced their choice.
“I’ve dreamed of this second since I used to be in second grade and it’s taken a whole lot of laborious work, a whole lot of ups and downs,” she stated in an interview with broadcaster ESPN.
“I all the time simply believed in myself … I informed my mother earlier than this, you understand, I earned it, and that’s why I’m so happy with it.”
