Iowa star Caitlin Clark is fresh off a historic college basketball career, but her next chapter is starting soon. On Monday night, Clark will hear her named called during the 2024 WNBA Draft and will officially begin her professional career.
As Clark takes the next step, many current and former WNBA players have shared their thoughts on what she has done so far and what they think her transition to the pros could look like.
After the national championship game, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley thanked Clark for what she has done for women's college basketball and added that Clark will lift up the WNBA as well. Former WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes agreed with Staley.
"Caitlin Clark is probably the best shooter, especially in the college game, that I've ever seen. I'm not saying there haven't been others, but that I've ever seen," Swoopes said on the "Queens of the Court" podcast." I agree with Dawn. ... she has absolutely taken the women's game to a different level. She's brought more eyes, people who never watched a single game of women's basketball tuned in because they wanted to see who is this little girl from Iowa shooting these logo 3s."
New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, the No. 1 overall pick in 2016, was one of the first WNBA players to congratulate Clark at the conclusion of the 2023-24 college basketball season.
"Incredible career by @CaitlinClark22," Stewart wrote. "Literally uncharted territory and excited to see her continue in the W!!"
While the expectations are high for Clark, Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi cautioned that Clark may face some initial struggles adapting to the pros. Taurasi, a three-time NCAA champion with UConn, was the first overall pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft. She eventually became the rookie of the year, but Taurasi admitted she's didn't feel quite as dominant as she did in college.
"Reality is coming. We all went through it," Taurasi said on SportsCenter. "That happens on the NBA side, and you're going to see it on this side. You look superhuman playing against 18-year-olds, but you're going to come with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time."
Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike, the 2012 Rookie of the Year, has spoken about how vets like Tamika Catchings made sure to remind her she was a newcomer when she entered the league. Ogwumike also shared her thoughts on Clark's transition and said she was excited to face her on the court.
"In this league, when you get new talents, it's just like any other team. There's people who are trying to make sure that [they] make the team, that they're still valuable and their spot is still there," Ogwumike told ESPN. "So with that may come a bit of jealousy, a little bit of envy, but the reality is her impact is apparent. You can't deny her impact. Anybody who says, 'Oh, she's not that great,' is downright completely dense. She's a threat. She's a threat in so many different ways, but she's also lifting the tides.
"Personally, I'm excited to play against her. I've never played against someone like her. Plus, I want to get better."
The Indiana Fever have the No. 1 overall pick this year, and Clark is practically locked in for that spot. While nothing is official yet, potential future teammate Aliyah Boston, the No. 1 overall pick in 2023, already gave us a preview of what she excepts from Clark on the court.
"I think you just see everything," Boston said during Final Four weekend. "Coach Staley talked about how she passes the ball, and I think that's the biggest thing. Yes, you know she can shoot the ball, you know that she's going to get a lot of attention. And because of that, her ability to find the right pass, make the pass, the timing of the pass, you see it all.
"Her teammates run the floor, being able to get out because you know when she has the ball in her hand, she's going to find you."
Clark's senior year marked the first time in Iowa history that all women's basketball home games were sold out. The Hawkeyes' Big Ten road games also sold out in masses. As Liberty point guard Sabrina Ionescu said in February, the hope is that fans continue to follow Clark at the next level and that new fans also come out to watch her.
"Obviously the WNBA is excited to bring her in and market wherever she is going to end up and continue to push the game," Ionescu said "I think the more players that we continue to have, the better it is that we are going to be able to enter different market places, and have different fan bases and continue to break records."
Clark hasn't even been drafted yet, but the Fever already secured 36 nationally televised games for the 2024 WNBA season.
The Caitlin Clark effect is already starting to touch the WNBA, but Washington Mystics legend Elena Delle Donne, the No. 2 overall pick in 2013, also warned that Clark might find herself having to balance a lot more than just basketball because of all the buzz around her.
"It's not just basketball, it's life," Donne told ESPN. "She's going to be pulled in so many directions, asked to do so much media, to do meet and greets at all the away games. Those were things that I said yes to in the beginning, and probably middle of my rookie season, I called my agent and I was like, 'We need to shut this down. I am hitting a wall. I'm so exhausted.'
"... I'm sure she's got incredible people on her corner, but it's so much. And you feel the pressure. You want to grow the game, so you do it. But then I guess there just came a point for me where I was like, 'I am so exhausted. If I'm not performing on the court, it doesn't matter what I'm doing with these off-court appearances.'"
Clark will certainly have a busy schedule, but eight-time All-Star Lisa Leslie is already looking forward to not just watching Clark play in the WNBA, but also in the 2024 Paris Olympics should she make the team.
"She better be on the Olympic team," Leslie told ESPN. "We should not leave the country without her. She's a bona fide baller. There's no doubt she's already one of the best players in the world."
