Caitlin Clark admits national attention adds to the pressure as WNBA career begins
After leaving an immeasurable impact on women’s college basketball, Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark will now take her talents to the WNBA. The 2024 WNBA Draft kicks off on Monday night in Brooklyn, New York.
Being the consensus No. 1 overall pick in any professional sports draft comes with pressure, but the pressure for Clark is elevated after spending the past two years at the epicenter of women’s basketball. Helping bring an unprecedented amount of attention to the sport that she can potentially shepherd into the WNBA.
Clark recently sat down with ESPN’s Holly Rowe, speaking candidly about the pressure that exists as she embarks on the next step in her career.
“I think it definitely adds some pressure, especially, you’re going to a new chapter of your life, you don’t know really what to expect,” Clark admitted. “It’s different from college, like I knew I could play at the highest level with the greatest teams, the blue bloods of college basketball. Iowa was always really good during my career, but this is a new chapter of my life, and moving on and starting a fresh challenge.”
“But at the same time everybody’s eyeballs are still on you, I think it presents a new challenge and a new pressure but to me that’s exciting. That’s what I’ve signed up for, that’s one of the reasons I left college is I think I’m ready for this from a maturity standpoint, from a basketball standpoint,” Clark added.
Clark’s on-the-court accomplishments are just as well-documented as her achievements off the court. Ending her college career as one of the most decorated collegiate athletes of all time in terms of individual awards and becoming the all-time leading scorer across men’s and women’s college basketball in NCAA history.
And off the court, she’s played a seminal role in growing the game. As Iowa consistently sold out both home and away games throughout the season and helped break numerous television viewership records in what was a historic season for women’s basketball.
On and off the hardwood Clark has done it all, but even she needs some help. Speaking on how sports psychologists and others in her corner have helped support her throughout her storied career.
“I think that’s super important, those are people I meet with basically every single week. I think there’s a lot of people that always check on me and make sure I have what I need because it can be a crazy time,” Clark said. “I think getting off social media is also very healthy, especially during our NCAA run, things just get so wild. You don’t need to be on there reading stuff.”
Clark cited her agents and parents as huge help during quite a hectic time in her career, preparing for the WNBA a little over a week removed from her final college game as she also works towards getting her degree by May 15. All while being the face of college basketball with expectations to do the same at the WNBA level.
The Indiana Fever hold the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming WNBA Draft, posting a 22-hour countdown on Twitter ahead of the draft in reference to Clark’s college number. Indiana’s season ticket prices also doubled following Clark’s draft declaration and 36 of their 40 games are scheduled to be televised or streamed nationally next season.
“Definitely makes it easy for my parents to watch games, they don’t have to travel to Indianapolis every single time so that’ll be nice,” Clark said.
The audience for the beginning of Clark’s WNBA career will be much larger than just her parents, as all eyes will be on her to see if she can translate her game to the next level. Expectations she’s willing to face head-on that could potentially result in a historic rise in the popularity of the WNBA in the same fashion that Clark elevated the college game.
The WNBA Draft starts at 7:30 p.m. ET on Monday and will air on ESPN.