IOWA CITY, Iowa – Caitlin Clark had one last chance to say goodbye to Iowa fans, and of course, there was a large crowd waiting.
Clark, who became college basketball’s all-time leading scorer this season on her way to becoming the national player of the year, was honored along with her teammates at a celebration at the Iowa arena commemorating the second runner-up. Hawkeyes back-to-back national champion. finish in the NCAA tournament.
“I would say you all have inspired me as much as I have inspired you,” Clark told the roughly 8,000 fans at Iowa’s Carver-Hawkeye Arena. “And you allowed me to live my dream every day, and for that I am so grateful. It’s been really special and this place will always be my home.”
Clark, expected to be the Indiana Fever’s No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft, finished her career with 3,951 points and 1,144 assists, an All-American every season in a career that began playing in front of sparse crowds during her junior year. , when attendance was limited because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Clark received a standing ovation when Iowa athletics director Beth Goetz announced that Clark’s No. 22 jersey will be retired, the third number to be retired in program history.
“I think they like you,” Goetz told Clark after the announcement.
“It’s amazing, something I’m very grateful for,” Clark said. “A lot of good 22-year-olds have come before me and played for this program, whether it’s Kathleen Doyle or Sam Logic. That number carries a lot of weight, far beyond me. I’m so grateful and it will be a special day when that happens.”
Iowa coach Lisa Bluder called the Hawkeyes’ back-to-back runs to the national championship game “special.”
“This year was also special because no one thought we could do it,” she said. “No one thought we could repeat what we did last year except these women here.”
Attendance at the event was not surprising given the Hawkeyes’ ability to draw large crowds this season.
The Hawkeyes sold out every home game, drawing 238,620 fans during the regular season, and that total does not include the 55,646 fans who attended the “Crossover at Kinnick” outdoor exhibition game in October at Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium, which set the women’s basketball attendance record for a single game.
Iowa also sold out both of its home NCAA tournament games — the weekend’s attendance of 28,764 was the largest of any first weekend site in the women’s tournament.
“Please come back next year,” Bluder said. “Please fill Carver-Hawkeye Arena next year.”
Fans lined up outside the arena more than two hours before the event began, rushing to find seats as the doors opened.
Angie Leyh of Atlantic, Iowa, brought her 10-year-old daughter Lana, who was celebrating her birthday, to the event.
The Leyhs attended one game this season, participating in Iowa’s NCAA Tournament opener against Holy Cross, but when Angie saw that the event would be held on her daughter’s birthday, they decided to make the three-hour drive to return one more time. turn. .
“We were going to drop everything to make sure she could be here,” Leyh said as her daughter held up a sign with her birthday wish list, asking for a chance to meet Clark, or at least get an autograph or photo. “This is all incredible.”
Clark went around the arena to sign autographs after the event, as he has done after games throughout his career. She spoke during the event how she and her two brothers idolized athletes growing up.
“I wanted to be like them,” she said. “It was these people who allowed me to dream and be in moments like this.”
Leyh knew what the Hawkeyes’ recent success meant to his daughter, whose sign also said of Clark: “I want to be just like you.”
“It’s a dream come true and it made her dream even bigger,” Leyh said.
