Caitlin Clark (born January 22, 2002) is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Iowa Hawkeyes and is regarded as one of the greatest collegiate players of all time. Clark is the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer and was a two-time national player of the year with the Hawkeyes. Since her college career, she has helped popularize women's basketball, a trend known as the Caitlin Clark effect. Clark attended Dowling Catholic High School in her hometown of West Des Moines, Iowa, where she was named a McDonald's All-American and rated the fourth-best player in her class by ESPN. In her freshman season with Iowa, she led the NCAA Division I in scoring and earned All-American honors. As a sophomore, Clark was a unanimous first-team All-American and became the first women's player to lead Division I in points and assists in a single season. In her junior season, she was the national player of the year and led Iowa to its first national championship game. Clark again led Division I in assists and set Big Ten single-season marks in points and assists. As a senior, she repeated as national player of the year and helped Iowa return to the national title game. Clark became the women's Division I career and single-season leader in points and three-pointers and broke the all-time conference record in assists, while leading the nation in both points and assists. Selected first overall by the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA draft, Clark was named to the WNBA All-Star Game as a rookie. At the youth international level, she has won three gold medals with the United States, including two at the FIBA Under-19 Women's World Cup, where she was named Most Valuable Player in 2021. Caitlin Clark born in Des Moines, Iowa to Brent, a vice president at a product company, and Anne. Anne's father was the football coach and a school administrator at Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines. Caitlin grew up in the city. She began playing basketball at age five and competed in boys' recreational leagues, because her father could not find a girls' league for her age group. Caitlin Clark also played softball, volleyball, soccer, tennis, and golf as a child before focusing on basketball. At age 13, she began playing several years ahead of her age group in girls' leagues. In sixth grade, she joined All Iowa Attack, an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball program based in Ames, Iowa and played for teams in the program until graduating from high school. She was coached by Dickson Jensen with Attack, and her AAU teammates included future Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) player Ashley Joens. Clark drew inspiration from Maya Moore of the Minnesota Lynx, the closest WNBA team to her hometown, and traveled with her father for three-and-a-half hours each way (seven hours roundtrip) to see their games. She admired All Iowa Attack alumnus Harrison Barnes and became a fan of the North Carolina Tar Heels after Barnes joined the program.
5 сен 2024