INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Caitlin Clark is finishing 2024 with yet another accolade. The Indiana Fever phenom is TIME’s Athlete of the Year.
It’s been a history-making year for Clark, who started 2024 as the most exciting player in women’s college basketball and finished it as the WNBA Rookie of the Year.
In February, Clark became the all-time leading scorer in Division I women’s basketball, breaking a record Kelsey Plum held for seven years. A few weeks later, she passed “Pistol Pete” Maravich for the most points scored all-time by any college player — men’s or women’s — in NCAA history.
In the spring, Clark led the Hawkeyes to the national championship game. She put up 30 points and eight rebounds in Iowa’s loss to No. 1 South Carolina, and her 18 points in the first quarter were the most by a player in a single period in championship history. She also surpassed Tennessee’s Chamique Holdsclaw for the NCAA Tournament career scoring record.
Clark finished her legendary college career with 3,951 points. At the end of the season, the University of Iowa raised her No. 22 jersey to rafters.
Clark declared for the WNBA Draft on Feb. 29, and, on April 15, she was selected as the No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever.
In her rookie yaer, Clark averaged 19.2 points, a league-high 8.4 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game. She also set a number of team records while earning WNBA All-Star and All-WNBA First Team honors.
Clark is also credited with boosting the popularity of women’s basketball since her playing days at Iowa, a phenomenon known as the “Caitlin Clark Effect.” The Caitlin Clark Effect was in full effect for her first season in the WNBA, where she continued to push attendance and viewership to new highs.
“I’ve been able to captivate so many people that have never watched women’s sports, let alone women’s basketball, and turn them into fans,” Clark told TIME. “(But) it’s going to be good for me to do my own thing and have my own space. I kind of want to just stay out of the spotlight.”
After averaging just over 4,000 fans per game in 2023, the Fever led the WNBA in attendance in 2024, selling an average of 17,0036 tickets per game. The team sold out 16 regular season games and set a new single-season franchise record for attendance, with 340,715 fans attending over 20 games.
Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever will open the 2025 season at home against the Chicago Sky on Saturday, May 25.
Previous Coverage
- Caitlin Clark trying to bring NWSL team to Cincinnati
- Caitlin Clark draws a big crowd for an LPGA pro-am in Florida
- Tyrese Haliburton discusses his “cool friendship” with Caitlin Clark