Iowa Hawkeyes Celebrate Caitlin Clark's Legacy with Jersey Retirement

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Caitlin Clark supplied the star power. The Iowa Hawkeyes supplied the perfect ending to the day.

Iowa got its biggest victory of the season, 76-69 over No. 4 USC, on an afternoon when the school honored Clark by raising her No. 22 jersey to the rafters at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Rather than launching logo 3-pointers and throwing pinpoint passes like she did in her All-American career from 2020-24, Clark got to be a cheerleader for a program and sport she has elevated.

Clark said she felt more nerves being back in the building where she made so much history than she did for all the huge games she played here.

That's because on Sunday, Clark had time to think about the magnitude of it all: becoming the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I history (3,951 points), reaching two national championship games, winning three Big Ten tournaments, and making an enormous impact that has continued on to the WNBA, where she won Rookie of the Year with the Indiana Fever.

"You kind of just have those butterflies in your stomach when you walk in here," Clark said while meeting with the media before Sunday's game. "Not so much for a basketball game now, but obviously just to be around everybody and to enjoy this environment.

"Definitely, you are a little bit more vulnerable. I don't have to go and compete for 40 minutes, even though I wish maybe I could. Just very grateful and fortunate ... feel very lucky that a lot of my former teammates and former coaches are here and able to support me, and a lot of friends and family."

Iowa lost Clark and a big senior class that included another WNBA-drafted player, Kate Martin, from last season's 34-5 team that fell to South Carolina in the NCAA final. So it's been a season of growing pains for the Hawkeyes, now 15-7 overall and 5-6 in the Big Ten.

But Iowa got a gem for its NCAA tournament résumé on Sunday, much to Clark's delight.

During the game, she sat in the stands with her parents, two brothers and boyfriend, former Iowa men's player Connor McCaffery. Clark has become a celebrity in the past year especially, and other celebrities turn out to see her. David Letterman was at Sunday's game, sitting with former Iowa coach Lisa Bluder. The entire Fever braintrust -- coach Stephanie White, general manager Amber Cox and president Kelly Krauskopf -- were also in attendance.

Clark was accompanied by security everywhere she went. But she said she has tried not to change anything about herself. The scrutiny has been intense, in her final season at Iowa and her first in the WNBA, but Clark said she keeps it in perspective.

"Everybody goes through some of the same stuff that I've gone through, and a lot of people go through a lot worse," she said. "I just try to remind myself every single day how grateful I am to be in the position that I am. And I try to treat everybody the same way that I would want to be treated. I think it just speaks to the way I was raised."

Iowa coach Jan Jensen said she told her team in the past week to be ready to soak up the loud, emotional atmosphere Sunday, but still try to keep the focus on the game. Then she laughed, noting that when the Hawkeyes came into practice Friday, No. 22 rally towels had already been placed on the nearly 15,000 seats in the arena.

"I had been like, '40 minutes of us' and there's 22, 22, 22," Jensen said of being surrounded by Clark's number, which won't ever again be worn by an Iowa women's player. "So I looked at the players and said, 'OK, is everybody still with me?' And they all kind of chuckled."

But the Hawkeyes proved they really were up for the task.

Lucy Olsen led Iowa with 28 points. National player of the year candidate JuJu Watkins led USC with 27. Despite the tough loss for the 19-2 Trojans, their first defeat since Nov. 23 to Notre Dame, the entire USC team remained on the court to watch Clark's jersey retirement ceremony.

"I'm really impressed with the atmosphere here," USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. "We had decided prior to the outcome of the game that we were going to stay out there to honor her and women's basketball. Congratulations to her. There's nothing I could say that hasn't been said. But the respect she's shown us, the humanity she's shown us, I'm definitely a fan."

Clark gave a shoutout to Watkins and the Trojans, thanked her teammates and family, and praised the fans for coming despite the high price of tickets -- "I know it probably wasn't cheap to get in the door" -- then watched a video made from fans in Iowa and around the world. One little girl on the video added, "Say hi to Taylor Swift for me."

Clark's world has gotten very big, but she said her Iowa roots and support system keeps her grounded. She said she chose Iowa in large part because it was about two hours from her hometown of West Des Moines, Iowa, and allowed her to stay close to family.

"I think having a small circle around me of people that I really trust -- those are the people that I can always count on and lean on -- is what's been so important for me over the past year," she said.

Clark then reminded fans she will be back here May 4 for a Fever exhibition game against the Brazilian national team.

"You better save up, because I bet it's gonna be pretty expensive," Clark joked.

Jensen, who made many drives across the state to watch Clark while recruiting her, said everything went perfectly.

"I wanted to have Caitlin's day be good, top to bottom," she said. "I think all the people in women's basketball now, they really appreciate what Caitlin did. Caitlin is one of one."