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Ever since the Indiana Fever won the WNBA draft lottery, the college basketball world has been speculating on whether Caitlin Clark will declare or stay for a fifth season with the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Caitlin Clark, who just signed a new endorsement deal with Gatorade, is only around 500 points away from the all-time women’s college basketball scoring record held by Kelsey Plum.
Should she return for a fifth season with the Hawkeyes she could put that record so far out of reach it might never be broken.
However, going to the Indiana Fever would mean teaming up with last year’s number one pick and Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston. Plus, Clark’s boyfriend Connor McCaffery, the son of Iowa’s men’s basketball coach, just took a job with the Pacers in Indianapolis.
So the big question on everyone’s mind, including legendary basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski’s, is what will she do?
“Either leave and go to the WNBA Draft or stay here for another season,” Clark told Coach K on his SiriusXM show this week. “It’s a hard decision because in my eyes it’s like a win-win. I can go and kind of live out a lifelong dream, or I can stay here and be in college, start working on my masters, or start working on another degree while playing college basketball with some of my best friends.”
The ability to make hundreds of thousands of dollars while staying in college has certainly made that decision even tougher than it used to be.
“That’s what almost makes it so hard is both seem so amazing,” Caitlin Clark continued. “It’s cool, obviously COVID has allowed me the opportunity to even have this choice. But I’m just trying to live in the moment. It’s a big decision and I try not to get too stressed out about it.”
Could @CaitlinClark22 shock the basketball world and return to Iowa for another season?
"It's a hard decision, in my eyes it's like a win-win."@DukeMBB | @IowaWBB | @WNBA pic.twitter.com/GAxHy3PJlj
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) December 19, 2023
Iowa is off to an 11-1 start and in the process, Clark became the first player in NCAA basketball history to surpass 3,000 points, 750 rebounds and 750 assists.
She is currently averaging a career high 29.5 points per game this season with 6.9 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game so another Player of the Year award could be in the offing. Would she like to make it three? Not if some Indianapolis businesses get their way.