Caitlin Clark is a women’s basketball ambassador, a role she enjoys thanks to her production and style.
In the months since she guided the Iowa Hawkeyes to their first-ever NCAA championship game in women’s basketball, Caitlin Clark has not had much free time.
Iowa’s IOWA CITY An Iowa marching band football halftime show featured a tribute to her, and her likeness was sculpted out of butter at the state fair.
She organized a fundraiser for the neighborhood food bank, assisted colleagues in building a Habitat for Humanity house, and organized a 600-person basketball camp that sold out in four hours.
She also made an advertisement for Nike, traveled to New York to accept the Sullivan Award as the best amateur athlete in the country, and accompanied teammates on a 12-day tour of Italy and Croatia.
In the months since she won numerous national player of the year honors and guided the Iowa Hawkeyes to their first-ever NCAA title in women’s basketball, Caitlin Clark has, to be sure, had little downtime. Fans were enthralled by LSU’s victory over Iowa, which broke viewership records, partly due to an altercation between Clark and Tigers standout Angel Reese.
That seems long ago now. Clark and her teammates are on the cusp of a new season, and she said she is recharged. She’s undecided on whether this will be her last year with the third-ranked Hawkeyes. She could return for a fifth season in 2024 or move on to the WNBA, perhaps as the No. 1 draft pick.
For now, the Caitlin Clark Craze is at its zenith in the state of Iowa. There’s no bigger celebrity between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, and last season’s AP player of the year easily ranks among the most popular American female athletes.
“I feel like I was just a freshman and I was playing in front of no one. It was just our families that were sitting over there,” Clark said in an interview with The Associated Press in an otherwise empty Carver-Hawkeye Arena. “Now I play in front of a sold-out arena, everybody screaming at me after games begging for my autograph. Whenever I go out in public, people always know who I am, so it can get tiring at times.
She went on, “I don’t think it’s an inconvenience at all.” “Because it’s so awesome, you’d never take it for granted. I feel like I’ve always been the same person, regardless of the role I have, the activities I get to do, and the happiness I’ve offered to others. However, a lot has changed in my life.