Caitlin Clark's WNBA Draft Day Emotions Weren't Everything You'd Expect

Indiana Fever icon Caitlin Clark didn't have the 2024 WNBA Draft day she had likely dreamed of.
Apr 15, 2024; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Caitlin Clark poses with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert after she is selected with the number one overall pick to the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA Draft at Brooklyn Academy of Music. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Apr 15, 2024; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Caitlin Clark poses with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert after she is selected with the number one overall pick to the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA Draft at Brooklyn Academy of Music. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

It came as a surprise to nobody when former Iowa Hawkeyes icon Caitlin Clark was selected by the Indiana Fever with the No. 1 pick of the 2024 WNBA Draft back in April.

Given her historic career at Iowa and her being a generational talent (not to mention all the attention (i.e. revenue) that she would bring to the franchise that drafted her), the Fever taking Clark was the no-brainer of all no-brainers.

One would imagine that draft day was one of the greatest days of Clark's life to this point. However, during her appearance on the "Fresh Hawk" podcast that's hosted by Clark's former Hawkeyes teammate Jada Gyamfi, the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year revealed why her emotions that night were much more complicated.

“I was so upset because after I got drafted I just got drug out immediately and I didn’t get to see any of the draft,”Clark said on the podcast while sitting with Gyamfi and former teammates Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall, all three of whom were also attending the draft.

“I had my phone but I really couldn’t go on it. It made me so upset. I didn’t even get to see Kate get drafted... but it made me really upset. Then we went and had fun but... I didn’t even take pictures with you guys, my family, [boyfriend] Connor McCaffery — no one," Clark continued.

Kate Martin was (rather unexpectedly) drafted by the Las Vegas Aces with the No. 18 overall pick.

While it's too bad that Clark's draft night wasn't everything she had likely made it up to be, at least she now has time to celebrate with her loved ones this offseason.


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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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