Special to Sports News Highlights

(SNH) — “I’ve dreamt of this moment since I was in the second grade. It’s taken a lot of hard work, a lot of ups and downs, but more than anything, I’m just trying to soak it in,” Caitlin Clark said Monday night, minutes after being drafted first overall by the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA draft. “I’ve loved playing basketball since I was a young girl, and that’s not going to change.”

Her love of the game might not change, but her life and women’s basketball are changing already.

The pick was merely a formality once the Fever won the draft lottery and Clark announced her intention to enter this year’s draft. Fever GM Lin Dunn said it took 15 seconds to submit the Clark pick, and the only reason it took that long is because she had to follow the rules.

The Fever finished last season with a 13-27 record, dead last in their conference. The franchise hasn’t had a winning record since 2015 and hasn’t made the playoffs since 2016, the final season of Fever all-time great Tamika Catchings.

Clark will be looking to help reverse the franchise’s fortunes. She will join forward Aliyah Boston, the first overall pick in the 2023 WNBA draft and the 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year, to form a duo with unlimited potential. With them and All-Star guard Kelsey Mitchell and forward NaLyssa Smith, a return to glory for the Fever could soon be in the cards.

Other draft highlights include Stanford forward Cameron Brink and Tennessee forward Rickea Jackson being selected by the Los Angeles Sparks with the No. 2 and No. 4 overall picks, respectively, while South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso and LSU forward Angel Reese were selected by the Chicago Sky with the numbers three and even picks, respectively.

Clark’s college teammate at Iowa, guard Kate Martin, was selected 18th overall by the back-to-back WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces.

Questions about how Clark’s game will translate to the pros will start to be answered soon enough, as the WNBA season starts next month. But there’s no question about the impact she’s about to have, and already has had, on the Fever, women’s basketball and women’s sports as a whole.

Less than a week ago, the WNBA announced that 36 out of 40 Indiana Fever regular season games will be shown on national TV this season. In comparison, there was only one nationally broadcast Fever game last season. To take it one step further, there were only six Indiana Pacers games on national TV this season, and they made the playoffs.

Even before draft night, Clark was driving an uptick in interest and ticket prices for the Fever, who were second-to-last in WNBA home attendance last season. According to ticket platform SeatGeek, via ESPN, the average Fever resale price for home games was $182 last week -- a 136% increase from last season.

Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the home of the Fever and Pacers, held a massive watch party for Monday’s draft. Around 10,000 fans congregated to witness a single draft pick, and they erupted after the first syllable of Clark’s name was spoken.

One hour after the pick was in, Fanatics showed it had sold out of Clark’s Fever jersey in five different sizes.

The state of Indiana welcomed Clark in numerous ways immediately after the pick.

A truck with a mobile billboard could be seen driving around Indianapolis, reading “Welcome to Indianapolis Caitlin Clark.” A video with various Indiana Pacers players welcoming Clark was put together in advance. Clark also received a special phone call from Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, who congratulated her and welcomed her to the state.

It was a busy week of media appearances for Clark in anticipation of the draft, a reflection of her rise to superstardom.

This past weekend, Clark made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live during the Weekend Update segment, where she made jokes at the expense of host Michael Che and his previous jabs toward women’s sports. At the end of the appearance, Clark shouted out the various stars of WNBA’s past in advance of her foray into the league.

“It’s just one step for the WNBA, thanks to all the great players like Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, Cynthia Cooper, the great Dawn Staley, and my basketball hero, Maya Moore. These are the women that kicked down the door, so I could walk inside. I want to thank them for laying the foundation,” Clark said. 

Clark and many others in the 2024 WNBA draft class helped revolutionize women’s basketball at the college level. The next step will be doing it in the pros.

One thing is for sure: the Caitlin Clark Fever is real.

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