If you can see her, you can be her.
Caitlin Clark, a true icon in women’s college basketball, has now been chosen as the No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA Draft, a testament to her record-breaking career. The draft took place at the prestigious Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Tickets for 1,000 spectators sold out within 15 minutes of going on sale a few months ago. The draft was held with fans for the first time since the 2014-2016 iterations of the event.
Cameron Brink went No.2 to the L.A. Sparks, Kamilla Cardoso went No.3 to the Chicago Sky.
“I am very lucky to go to an organization that loves women’s basketball,” Clark said.
“Bayou Barbie” Angel Reese was selected No.7 to the Sky, joining Cardoso.
“No one will get rebounds on us,” Cardoso said.
The Fever have not appeared in the playoffs since 2016, so expect Clark to make an impact with Aliyah Boston.
“Our goal is to get back to championship habits,” Clark said.
With the women’s college game exploding in popularity as players such as Clark and Reese became household names, the arrival of the 2024 draft class is widely regarded as a potential watershed moment for the WNBA.
Clark, a 6-foot guard and West Des Moines, Iowa, native, enters the league on top of the world. A two-time national player of the year, she ended her collegiate career with 3,951 points, the most in men’s and women’s Division I history, while propelling the Iowa Hawkeyes to back-to-back national title game appearances, their first in program history.
The Los Angeles Sparks, rebuilding following the departure of Nneka Ogwumike in free agency, selected two players in the lottery: Stanford’s Cameron Brink at No. 2 and Tennessee’s Rickea Jackson at No. 4.
“Playing at Tennessee and Mississippi State has prepared me for this moment,” Jackson said. “Life is just trials and tribulations, but how you get through those. I have overcome a lot of adversity and continue to stay strong; that is what got me where I am today.”
Jackson, who started her career at Mississippi State, is Tennessee’s 19th first-round pick, the second most in WNBA draft history.
“I love that I get to stay on the West Coast, and I love that they took a chance on me,” Brink said. “I feel like I’m just going to show that I can work really hard and help them a lot. But also, I’ll be close to family, which is really important for me.”
Brink joins Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike as the third Stanford player selected in the top two of the WNBA draft and is the program’s 15th first-rounder.
“I want to continue the legacy of growing the sport,” Brink said. “We have to look back at the women before us. There were many talented draft class before us.”
The Chicago Sky made headlines in selecting South Carolina’s Cardoso (No. 3) and LSU’s Reese (No. 7) as the 2024 and 2023 Final Four Most Outstanding Players, respectively. Cardoso helped the Gamecocks win their third national championship to complete an undefeated season, then attended the team’s championship parade Sunday before traveling to New York.
“I am going to be in good hands; I am excited to get to Chicago and work with Teresa Weatherspoon,” Cardoso said.
Reese’ 61 double-doubles over the past two seasons were the most in Division I and second most in LSU history, behind only Sylvia Fowles. Reese — who rose to superstardom in leading the Tigers to their first national championship in 2023 — is LSU’s highest pick since Fowles (No. 2 overall in 2008).
“The quote I live by is, every day the sun won’t shine, but that’s why I love tomorrow,” Reese said. Every day is not going to be a great day; a lot of times in my life, I feel like I’m down, but I always look to the next day because I know something else greater is going to happen.”
Clark, the only Division I women’s player with more than 3,000 points and 1,000 assists, will have two similarly young but elite post targets in Boston, the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year, and NaLyssa Smith, a 2022 lottery pick.
Of the other prospects invited to the draft Monday: UConn’s Nika Muhl was taken with the second pick of the second round by the Storm; Ohio State’s Celeste Taylor is headed to Indiana after being selected No. 15 overall; Syracuse’s Dyaisha Fair (No. 16) — who finished her collegiate career third on the all-time Division I women’s career points list behind only Clark and Kelsey Plum — and Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley (No. 24) were chosen by the Las Vegas Aces; and UCLA’s Charisma Osborne was picked with the first pick of the third round by the Phoenix Mercury.
“To know I am going to a special team with veterans means a lot,” Fair said. “It is like a perfect situation. I am coming in to learn, and there is much to learn from.”
Iowa’s Kate Martin, in the crowd to support teammate Clark, was also chosen No. 18 overall by the Aces.
Three international players were also selected in the first round: Carla Leite of France (No. 9 to Dallas), Leïla Lacan of France (No. 10 to the Connecticut Sun) and Nyadiew Puoch of Australia (No. 12 to the Atlanta Dream).
“It is great to just look back knowing that my country, my family, my friends, they are all proud of me supporting me,” Puoch said. “Especially my mom. She has done so much for me and my family.”
It marks the fourth time three or more international players were selected in the first round of the WNBA draft (2021, 2001, 2000).
The WNBA season tips off on May 14th.
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