As expected, Caitlin Clark is the WNBA No. 1 pick, by the Indiana Fever

She elevated the University of Iowa women’s basketball program to unprecedented heights.

Caitlin Clark’s new mission is to help lift a professional franchise toward respectability.

She will do it in, perhaps, the most basketball-crazed state in the nation.

As expected, Clark was the Indiana Fever’s selection as the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft on Monday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, N.Y.

“I’m ready for this chapter in my life,” Clark said on ESPN’s pre-draft telecast. “I’m ready to be an adult.”

A 6-foot point guard from West Des Moines, Clark is the most prolific scorer in NCAA history, scoring 3,951 career points. She ranked third on the women’s career assist chart, with 1,144.

“Sometimes people overlook my passing,” Clark said. “They look at my scoring, and don’t get me wrong, I love to put the ball in the basket.

“Once I get playing with my teammates, they can read me, read my eyes.”

She was a three-time first-team All-American by the Associated Press, and was named national player of the year twice by most major award services after leading the Hawkeyes to NCAA runner-up finishes in 2023 and 2024 and three Big Ten tournament titles.

Under the WNBA's salary structure (via the database Spotrac), the No. 1 pick will earn $76,535 this season.

Iowa finished 34-5 in 2023-24 and was a massive draw, at home (season tickets were sold out in August), on the road and on the television.

The Hawkeyes’ national-championship loss to South Carolina was viewed by an average of 18.7 million viewers, by far a record for a women’s basketball game.

In Indianapolis, Clark will be tasked with igniting a similar interest in the Fever, whose last postseason appearance came in 2016.

Indiana was 10th in the 12-team league last season in win-loss record (13-27) and 11th in attendance (4,067 per game).

But judging by ticket prices, both in Indianapolis and for the Fever’s road games, Clark’s appeal will be league-wide immediately.

Thirty-six of the Fever’s 40 games will be televised nationally for the 2024 season, which begins May 14 at Connecticut. The first home game is May 16 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Indiana’s preseason games are May 3 (at Dallas) and May 10 (home vs. Atlanta).

Clark will join a roster than includes former Ohio State star Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston, whose South Carolina team the Hawkeyes beat in the national semifinals in 2023.

Boston was the No. 1 draft pick last year.

A member of the WNBA since 2000, Indiana won the league championship in 2012 and was the runner-up in 2009 and 2015.

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Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com