Iowa basketball phenom Caitlin Clark plans to forgo next season and enter WNBA Draft

Iowa guard Caitlin Clark claps during the second half of a game against Minnesota on Wednesday in Minneapolis.

Abbie Parr/AP

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Abbie Parr/AP

Iowa guard Caitlin Clark claps during the second half of a game against Minnesota on Wednesday in Minneapolis.

Abbie Parr/AP

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, who is on the verge of becoming the all-time NCAA scoring leader in college basketball, announced Thursday that she will leave the Hawkeyes after this season and enter the WNBA Draft.

“While this season is far from over and we have a lot more goals to achieve, it will be my last one at Iowa,” Clark wrote in a post on the X social media platform. She thanked her teammates, coaches and the thousands of fans who have packed arenas across the country to watch her and the sixth-ranked Hawkeyes.

Clark emerged as a focal point for women’s basketball, with her flashy play and 3-point shot, often from the on-court logo. Many players would have been benched for shooting from so far out, but Clark had the green light from her coach and she has delivered while also finding her teammates and hitting the boards.

The guard, with one more year of eligibility, became the all-time leading women’s scorer in major college basketball by scoring 33 points to pass Lynette Woodard and post her 17th career triple-double in a 108-60 victory over Minnesota on Wednesday night.

Clark also broke the NCAA single-season record by sinking eight 3-pointers for a total of 156 in 2023-24. She now has 3,650 career points. Woodard had 3,649 points for Kansas from 1977-81, before the NCAA sanctioned the sport. Earlier this month, Clark broke Kelsey Plum’s NCAA scoring record (3,527 points).

Next up is the overall NCAA scoring record of Pete Maravich, who is just 17 points ahead of her.