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Caitlin Clark, Lucy Olsen On-Court WNBA Embrace Warms Iowa Hawkeyes Fans' Hearts

Former Iowa Hawkeyes guards Caitlin Clark and Lucy Olsen shared a wholesome moment while their teams played in the WNBA.
Grant Young|
May 28, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) and Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) embrace before the game against the Washington Mystics at Entertainment & Sports Arena. Mandatory Credit: Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images
May 28, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) and Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) embrace before the game against the Washington Mystics at Entertainment & Sports Arena. Mandatory Credit: Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images | Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images

The Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team currently has four former members of the team playing in the WNBA. These four players are Indiana Fever superstar guard Caitlin Clark, Las Vegas Aces veteran forward Megan Gustafson, Golden State Valkyries standout Kate Martin, and Washington Mystics rookie Lucy Olsen.

Olsen and Clark had completely different college careers, at least as it pertains to their time at Iowa. Clark is a school legend, taking the team to two consecutive NCAA national championship games and breaking the NCAA's all-time points record in a college career. Olsen, on the other hand, came to the Hawkeyes program after three seasons spent at Villanova, and therefore was only at Iowa for one year before getting drafted.

Still, Olsen's scoring aptitude, infectious energy, and wide smile — not to mention her handling the expectations of trying to fill Clark's impossibly big shoes with reverence — made her beloved by the Hawkeyes fan base.

While Clark and Olsen never played on the same team, there's a clear mutual respect between the two. And this was shown when they embraced amid Clark's Fever team playing Olsen's Mystics squad on June 3. This was captured in a video by Hawkeyes reporter Ethan Petrik, who made an X post on Tuesday evening that read, "WORLDS COLLIDE‼️".

The video shows Clark and Olsen meeting at around half court, sharing a few words, then going back to their respective benches. And Hawkeyes fans are loving their two former superstars sharing am embrace.

"So glad this was captured! Love them," one fan wrote.

Another added, "awww love to see it! Always a Hawkeye!"

While Clark wasn't fit to play in the game tonight because of her left quad strain, hopefully these two will be competing on the court later on this season.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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