The obvious is now official. Indiana Fever superstar guard Caitlin Clark, who put up numbers we have never seen before as a rookie, was named the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year, the league announced on Thursday.
Clark garnered an impressive 66 out of 67 votes from a national media panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The other vote went to her arch rival, the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese, who was the No. 7 pick out of LSU in the draft. Clark is the third player in franchise history to earn WNBA Rookie of the Year Honors, joining Aliyah Boston out the University of South Carolina (2023) and Tamika Catchings (2002). Clark was also named the Associated Press Rookie of the Year on September 22.
“I am incredibly honored to be named Rookie of the Year, but more than that, I am grateful to everyone that supported me throughout this past season – my family and friends, my teammates, the Fever organization and everyone that cheered us on all season. I am so proud of what we accomplished and so excited for what the future holds,” Clark said.
Clark had a smooth and record-breaking transition into the WNBA that followed her history-making collegiate career at Iowa, where she became the all-time leading scorer in Division I basketball, men’s or women’s, shattering Pete Maravich’s mark.
Clark was the model of consistency. The four-time WNBA Rookie of the Month, three-time WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week and WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month in August started all 40 regular season games for the Fever and went to heights no one could have ever seen coming, both on and off the court for a groundbreaking debut year, enhanced by an abundance of WNBA records.
In 2024, Clark became the first rookie in WNBA history and franchise history to record a triple-double. On July 17 during Indiana’s first game of the regular season against the Dallas Wings, Clark was a magician on the floor and dazzled the crowd, recording 19 assists, the most assists in a game in WNBA history. Clark also received the most All-Star Game votes in WNBA history with 700,735 votes and became the first player in league history to earn WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month honors in the same month.
Embed from Getty ImagesIndiana selected Clark with the first overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. In the NCAA record books at the University of Iowa, Clark finished as the NCAA all-time leading scorer across men’s and women’s college basketball (3,951 points), the all-time leading scorer in women’s NCAA Tournament history (480 points), first in field goals made (1,293 made field goals), first in 3-point field goals made (548 made 3-point field goals) third in assists (1,144 assists) and fourth in free throws made (817 made free throws).
Talking in her postgame press conference after the Fever’s 87-81 loss in Game 2 against the Connecticut Sun, Clark, although disappointed with the outcome, said she was excited about the potential she and the team have in the future.
“The fun part is I feel like I’m just scratching the surface,” Clark said. “I know I want to help this franchise get even better, help my teammates get even better, be better for my teammates. I know there’s a lot of room for me to continue to improve, so that’s what excites me the most.”
In honor of being named the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year, Clark will receive $5,150 and a trophy designed to celebrate and acknowledge the achievement.
