Caitlin Clark reveals her expectations for Year 1 in the WNBA

Caitlin Clark is quite confident ahead of her rookie season in the WNBA, but the new Indiana Fever star knows she’ll rely on the people around her.

Joining The Pat McAfee Show Wednesday, Clark is hyped to begin her career. But there are expectations for the No. 1 overall pick to perform at a high level.

That’s what she plans to do and isn’t shy about expecting to get back to the postseason with Indiana.

“I think, yeah, definitely helping us get back to the playoffs,” Clark said. “I think that’s goal, number one. And I think everybody in the Fever organization believes that that’s where we can be in Year 1 for sure. And, you know, Aliyah Boston was Rookie of the Year last year, is a great piece. I think there’s just so much young talent on this roster, and that’s the biggest thing is just buy into that and join that.” 

Clark is very thrilled that the crowds will be electric. Indianapolis is a basketball town and with the hype of Clark joining the squad for the 2024 season, tickets will be hard to come by.

“And obviously, like the crowds that we’re gonna have, (that’s) certainly gonna help us too,” Clark said. “Like that type of energy that you just feed off as a competitor like at the University of Iowa, like, we didn’t really lose at home.

“We just didn’t do that because of the environment. You didn’t want to let those people down, but also, like, people were intimidated to come there and play us. So I think the fans will be huge.”

Clark could break out as a pro right away, but the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer knows there will be some growing pains in the WNBA.

“There will definitely be some learning curves and some challenges but also like, I mean, I think my passing translates,” Clark said. “I mean that people always want to talk about the flow of threes, scoring, whatever. But you know, to be having talent around me that I’m going to have is like, just feed them the ball.”

Clark, who had already earned the title as the best player in the nation, outdid herself in her senior season with the Hawkeyes. In 39 games, she posted averages of 31.6 points, 8.9 assists and 7.4 rebounds per game. Clark shot 45.5% from the field and 37.8% from behind the arc. She led the Hawkeyes to their second consecutive Women’s Basketball National Championship Game.