Indiana Fever select Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark with No. 1 pick in WNBA Draft

The No. 1 overall selection in this year’s WNBA Draft was never in doubt. On Monday night, it became official.

The Indiana Fever selected sharp-shooting Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark with the first pick in Monday night’s draft at Brooklyn Academy of Music a little over a week after Clark’s record-setting collegiate career ended with a title game loss to unbeaten South Carolina.

Clark, 22, who became the NCAA’s all-time scoring leader (3,951 points in passing Kelsey Plum and Pete Maravich) in her senior season with the Hawkeyes, now looks to continue her hoop dreams in the WNBA.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert — along with the rest of the basketball world — knew whose name would be inside the envelope as the Fever’s top selection. After hearing her name, Clark hugged her family and then took to the stage in front of about 1,000 cheering fans. It was the first time fans attended the event since the 2016 draft that took place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

Clark now joins Aliyah Boston — last year’s No. 1 overall pick— on a team that finished last in the Eastern Conference with 13-27 record in 2023. Boston, the cornerstone piece in Indiana, unanimously won last season’s Rookie of the Year award. The 13 wins is a jump from the 5-31 season the team endured in 2022. Boston helped with that improvement. Now, Clark will join the mix.

Clark, who averaged 31.6 points per game as a senior, will stretch the floor for the Fever and certainly will be a key piece in Indiana’s rebuild. Her eye-popping shotmaking overshadows her ability as a playmaker, which will bode well in her transition to the WNBA. Clark averaged 8.9 assists in her time as a Hawkeye and her addition to the Fever creates a lethal pick-and-roll duo with Boston.

Boston, who averaged 14.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in her rookie season, will now have a young playmaking running mate in the backcourt in hopes to soon end the Fever’s seven-year playoff drought. Fever head coach Christie Sides will now have decisions to make on playing time. No. 1 pick Clark joins a backcourt that already includes 27-year-old Kelsey Mitchell, who lead the team with 18.2 points per game. Guard Erica Wheeler scored just 9.9 points per game while leading the team in assists (5.0).

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