Photo by Kevin Walker
NEW YORK – University of Iowa senior guard Caitlin Clark was selected by the Indiana Fever with 1st overall pick in the WNBA Draft. Clark is the first Hawkeye ever to be selected as the overall top pick as the West Des Moines, Iowa, native led the Hawkeyes to two second straight National Championships and finished her senior season leading the nation in assists (8.9 assists per game) and in scoring (31.6 points per game). She became the first player to finish No. 1 in both categories in back-to-back seasons. Clark is the all-time leading scorer in basketball history with a career 3,951 points and is the first Division-I player to record 1,000+ points in back-to-back seasons. She is also the only player in NCAA DI men’s or women’s basketball history to lead her conference in scoring and assists in four consecutive seasons. Clark finished her Iowa career with 3951 points, 990 rebounds, and 1144 assists.
Clark was tabbed as the Big Ten Player of the Year and is the first player in program history to be named First Team All-Big Ten four times in four years of competition. She has also led the Hawkeyes to three straight Big Ten Championships for the first time in program history.
Minutes later Kate Martin was selected by the Las Vegas Aces with 18th overall pick in the 2nd round of the WNBA Draft. Martin joins teammate Caitlin Clark in the 2024 draft class as the fifth Hawkeye to be drafted into the WNBA since 2019, following Kathleen Doyle, Megan Gustafson, Monika Czinano, and Clark. Nineteen Hawkeyes have been drafted or signed in the WNBA since the league originated in 1997. This marks the first time since 1998 that two Hawkeyes have been drafted in the same year.
The Edwardsville, Illinois, native stands as the first Iowa women’s basketball player to have amassed 900+ points, 500+ rebounds, 400+ assists, 120+ steals, and 60+ blocks in a career and is the third player in school history behind Clark and Sam Logic to net 1,200+ points, 700+ rebounds, and 450+ assists. Martin scored 10+ points in 30 games this season, 15+ points in 17 games, while averaging 13.1 points per game in her senior campaign.
Martin was named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale USBWA National Player of the Year Watchlist and to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s 21st class of “So You Want To Be A Coach” program in her final season. Head Coach Lisa Bluder commented “I’m so proud of Kate because her dreams came true. She has been such a big part of our program over the last six years. Her efforts did not go unnoticed by her peers. I wish Kate all the success with this next step!”
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