Caitlin Clark became known to even the most casual sports fan in 2023, when she led Iowa on a run to the national championship game.
But for college basketball diehards, Clark has been a staple in the sport for years.
The Hawkeyes' sensation is dominating the national conversation this year. After reaching national fame last season, she cemented herself among college greats this season, becoming the all-time scoring leader in NCAA basketball.
How long has Clark starred for Iowa? Here's what you need to know about her collegiate career.
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What year is Caitlin Clark at Iowa?
Clark is a senior at Iowa.
The 22-year-old is the lone player on the Hawkeyes' roster classified as a senior for the 2023-24 season, per the Iowa athletic department website.
How long has Caitlin Clark played for Iowa?
Clark has played for Iowa for four years. She joined the program in 2020-21, one year after the NCAA basketball season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a freshman, Clark wasted no time in adjusting to the collegiate level. She started all 30 games for Iowa, averaging 26.6 points while shooting 47.2% from the field. She led the entire Division I level in scoring while ranking second in assists and 3-pointers per game.
For her efforts, Clark was the unanimous selection for Big Ten Freshman of the Year. She also won the Dawn Staley Award as the best guard in the country, and she shared the Tamika Catchings Award and the WBCA Freshman of the Year honor with UConn's Paige Bueckers. In addition, she was named a first-team All-American by the USBWA and second-team All-American by AP.
In the 2022-23 season, Clark impressed again, averaging 27.0 points, 8.0 assists and 8.0 rebounds per game while leading the Division I in total points, free throws and triple-doubles. She won the Dawn Staley Award for the second year in a row and also won the Nancy Lieberman Award, handed out each year to the top point guard in women's basketball.
Clark was tabbed with first-team All-American honors from the AP and the USBWA, and she was unanimously named Big Ten Player of the Year and to the All-Big Ten first team.
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Clark's junior season, though, catapulted her to a whole new level of fame. She averaged 27.8 points, 8.6 assists and 7.1 rebounds per game, leading Division I in assists and finishing second in scoring. She set Big Ten single-season records in points, assists, 3-pointers and free throws, while tying her own conference record with five triple-doubles.
She helped the Hawkeyes to a national championship berth, though Iowa fell to LSU in the 2023 title game. With 191 points throughout her March Madness run, Clark broke the men's and women's scoring records for a single NCAA Tournament.
Clark racked up the honors yet again as a junior, as she won all major national player of the year awards — AP Player of the Year, the Honda Sports Award, the John R. Wooden Award, Naismith College Player of the Year, USBWA National Player of the Year and the Wade Trophy. She also won the Nancy Lieberman Award for a second time and became the first three-time winner of the Dawn Staley Award. For the second straight season, she was unanimously selected as a first-team All-American, earning first-team recognition from the AP and USBWA.
To top it all off, she won the Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award and the Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year.
Caitlin Clark's major at Iowa
Clark is a marketing major at Iowa.
She initially enrolled at the university without a clear academic path in mind. But a lecture by Iowa associate marketing professor Nancy Abram led Clark to choose that field, per Iowa's Tippie School of Business.
"[Abram] brought in a lot of students who worked at places like Amazon and Microsoft who talked about how they got where they are in their career, and a lot of former students who gave us a lot of guidance," Clark said. "The class focused on problem solving and I love her energy. She really engaged me with marketing."
MORE: The 'wow' moment: When coaches, media knew Caitlin Clark was different
The choice was a smart one, considering the timing of Clark's career at Iowa has lined up with the NCAA opening the path for student-athletes to make a profit of their name, image and likeness. Clark has taken what she has learned in these business classes and applied it to her basketball brand.
"I’m working with executives, accountants and marketers, designers, and getting real-world experience strategically engaging with all these people," Clark said. "I should get internship hours for living my daily life running my business and brand."
In addition to majoring in marketing, she also has a minor in communication studies.
Is Caitlin Clark entering the 2024 WNBA Draft?
Yes, Clark is entering the 2024 WNBA Draft, she announced on Feb. 29.
In order to be eligible for the WNBA Draft, players must be at least 22 years old or have their 22nd birthday during the year of the draft. Clark turned 22 on Jan. 22, 2024, so this marks the first year in which she could declare for the WNBA Draft.
She did have one more year of college eligibility remaining due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as the NCAA awarded an extra season of eligibility to all winter sport athletes who participated in the COVID-affected 2020-21 season.
The Iowa sensation received mixed advice from professional basketball players. But Clark decided to go pro, heeding the advice of women's basketball legend Sue Bird.
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Bird encouraged Clark to forego her last year of NCAA eligibility and declare for the WNBA. The Seattle Storm great believes the collegiate phenom has a "realistic" chance to be an All-Star in her first season of pro ball.
