Iowa's Caitlin Clark entering WNBA draft, skipping final season of NCAA eligibility

Iowa Hawkeye's star Caitlin Clark will enter the 2024 WNBA draft, making this her final collegiate season, she announced Thursday.

The announcement comes one day after Clark passed Lynette Woodard to become the all-time leading scorer in women's Division I college basketball — although Woodard's previous record of 3,649 is not recognized by the NCAA as it did not govern women's basketball when she played.

"It is impossible to fully express my gratitude to everyone who has supported me during my time at Iowa — my teammates, who made the last four years the best; my coaches, trainers and staff who always let me be me; Hawkeye fans who filled Carver every night; and everyone who came out to support us across the country, especially the young kids," Clark said in a statement posted on social media.

Clark is expected by many to be the No. 1 pick in the draft, set for April 15 in New York City. If those predictions are correct Clark will be headed to Indianapolis for the start of her pro career, as the Indiana Fever have the first pick in the WNBA draft for the second season in a row.

But Clark noted in her announcement, "this season is far from over and we have a lot more goals to achieve."

The Hawkeyes began the week ranked No. 6 in the country and in second place in the Big Ten, with just one game left in the regular season. After that, the Hawkeyes will move on to the Big Ten tournament and then the NCAA Tournament, where the Hawkeyes were the runner-up in 2023 after falling to the LSU Tigers in the finals.

Clark also has a huge individual accolade in her sights, as she sits just 18 points away from breaking the all-time Division 1 scoring record of 3,667 held by Pete Maravich. 

In:
• College Basketball
• WNBA
• Women's Basketball
• Basketball

Jordan Freiman

Jordan Freiman is an editor and writer for CBSNews.com. He covers breaking news, trending stories, sports and crime. Jordan has previously worked at Spin and Death and Taxes.