Catlin Clark, a 22-year-old basketball star who plays for the Iowa Hawkeyes, finished her career as the leading Division 1 scorer in Women’s basketball. Clark has ended her college career with a total of 3,951 individual points. Clark has declared herself for the 2024 WNBA Draft. Clark is a two-time national player of the year. This year alone, Clark led Iowa to the championship game but fell short to South Carolina. Clark continues to inspire many people as she moves to the WNBA next year.
“She inspires [me] by being an amazing women’s athlete and showing us that women’s sports are cool to watch. It’s possible to do anything,” freshman basketball player Kapri Wilson said.
Clark receives a lot of praise on and off the court, specifically on social media apps, such as Tiktok and Instagram. Interviews of Clark have gone viral and creators have started making edits of her playing on the court. Videos have also been made about her talking about how smart of a player she has been in recent games.
“I think she does deserve the hype because she is really good and not many people are able to do what she can, especially 3’s [(three-point shots)]. She makes them almost every time, which is really cool. I feel good as she enters the draft, it will do good for her,” freshman Addyson Shark Said.
While she is a great basketball player, Clark can be controversial. Many think that she receives too much hype, which leads them to believe she can be cocky on the court. Some of the things she has stated in previous interviews are a reason people believe her to be controversial.
“I think sometimes she can be a bit overrated because she can get very cocky and obnoxious, especially in interviews at times, but overall she is a very cool player,” freshman Myah Skourupski said.
Catlin is set to leave Iowa to head towards the 2024 WNBA draft on April 15. Many think she will go as a first-round pick and possibly the first pick overall. In Multiple mock drafts produced by companies such as ESPN, Clark could be drafted to the Indiana Fever; but even then people are worried to see if she will continue to break records.
“I think it definitely makes sense for her to leave Iowa for the draft. She can make money [in the WNBA]. I don’t think she will continue to break records in the WNBA because people are a lot better there,” Swager said.
