Caitlin Clark leave lowa for a reason because of ……
Caitlin Clark’s Iowa-or-WNBA decision won’t be easy. And with the Olympics looming, USA Basketball faces a tough call: Should it make room on a stacked roster for the college megastar
Will Caitlin Clark stay at Iowa for her fifth COVID year or will she go to the WNBA?
And, is she going to represent the United States at the Olympics this summer in Paris?
The first question is totally in her control and all hers to answer. Does Clark, a fourth-year senior who gets a COVID year if she wants it, come back to Iowa to sink three-point shots and thread no-look passes and pack arenas around the Big Ten and the nation, which will be basically one and the same by the time the 2024-25 season begins
Or does she go to the WNBA, where she will be the No. 1 pick in the draft and immediately become the best-known pro in the women’s game, even if there will be the inevitable learning curve playing with and against the best players in the world?
Does she remain or does she leave? It’s Brexit for sports.
Clark is said to be torn, and who can blame her? Conventional wisdom says she will go to the WNBA because what more could she possibly do in college once she passes Pete Maravich to become the all-time leading scorer in Division I basketball? She has single-handedly lifted the national perception of the women’s game to a level that would have been unthinkable even a couple of years ago, so she certainly owes us nothing more.
On the other hand, she will never be more loved as a basketball player than when she’s playing in her home state of Iowa, and it’s not like the WNBA won’t be there, waiting for her, a year from now.
My guess is she’s going, but I really think she should stay. She should take advantage of that fortunate gift of an extra year at Iowa to turn next season into the most remarkable farewell tour the college game has ever seen.