You don’t must be sweating your March Madness bracket (and even tuned right into a game) to know the name Caitlin Clark. After breaking a complete bunch of NCAA records over the past couple years, the 22-year-old Iowa Hawkeyes guard is arguably essentially the most talked-about athlete in the meanwhile—in college pro sports—and he or she’s drawing long-deserved attention to women’s basketball while she’s at it.
During her last home game on March 3, Clark casually became NCAA’s all-time leading scorer (out of men women). Tickets to the sold-out game were the costliest within the history of girls’s basketball (each NCAA and WNBA)—not terribly surprising, considering other ones she’s played in have drawn record-breaking TV viewstoo. The 15,000 fans who got here to look at Clark’s court dominance IRL that day included basketball great (and Clark’s childhood idol) Maya MooreJake from State Farm, and rapper Travis Scott.
And she’s only trying to add to all of the accolades as March Madness continues: Clark’s right in the midst of her final NCAA championship run, leading her team to the Sweet Sixteen for the third time (the team’s fourth since 2019). The top-seeded Hawkeyes will face number-five seed Colorado Buffaloes on March 30 at 3:30 p.m. ET, vying for a spot within the Elite Eight the subsequent day. To brush up on the whole lot it is advisable to find out about basketball’s fastest-rising star before then, listed here are just a few fun facts to aid you start.
1. She’s been manifesting a basketball profession since third grade.
Clark grew up playing competitive sports, including soccer and softball, but she’s had basketball specifically on her mind since on the age of nine. In an ESPN interview, Clark shared a dream board she made in elementary school of her life goals, which included earning a basketball scholarship and playing within the WNBA. Check, check. (We’ll must stay tuned on the “giant mansion” and “three to 4 kids.”)
2. Clark played on boys’ teams as a child.
As the center child, Clark grew up in a self-described “sports family,” and her dad was her first basketball coach. He recognized her advanced skills early on, and signed her up for boys’ teams so she could proceed to be challenged. She played on the boys’ soccer and basketball teams longer than most teams remain co-ed—up until about sixth grade—and even won MVP one 12 months. “I feel it was super special in my development, and it was something that never fazed me,” she told ESPN. “It was similar to, I’m a woman, I can hold my very own, this isn’t anything I’ve been afraid of.”
3. Her brothers helped her reach her athletic potential.
Clark calls her brothers each her “biggest supporters” and “biggest haters at the identical time,” telling ESPN with fun that they proceed to humble her. In particular, she credits her older brother, whom she describes as all the time being “larger, stronger, faster,” for pushing her athletically. “Whenever I desired to play with him and his friends…I never won anything, and my mom all the time said if you desire to play with them, you’ve got to seek out a technique to hold your individual,” she told ESPN.
4. She brings home more money than some other women’s college basketball player.
In 2021, the NCAA enacted a rule allowing college players to earn cash from their name, image, and likeness (NIL). In other words, student-athletes can now receives a commission for social media brand deals, commercials, and other partnerships. The rule effectively launched the primary college athlete influencers, and Clark is capitalizing on her moment.
Thanks to her 1.1 million Instagram followers and all that national attention, Clark has been a natural partner for major brands, including State Farm, Gatorade, and Nike. Her deals total $3.1 million since January 2022, in accordance with the verified NIL deal tracker run by On3. This sum makes Clark the highest-earning NCAA women’s basketball player ever and the fourth highest-earning college athlete (behind men’s basketball players Bronny James and Shedeur Sanders and girls’s gymnastics star Livvy Dune).
5. A marketing major helps her take advantage of it.
When she’s not practicing free throws or pumping iron, you possibly can catch Clark drafting a killer retail strategy. She’s an honors student majoring in marketing with a minor in communications studies on the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business. And her campaign-riddled Instagram grid is solely proof that hitting those books is paying off.
