You don’t have to sweat your March Madness bracket (or even be tuned into a game) to learn the name Caitlin Clark. After breaking a slew of NCAA records over the past two years, the 22-year-old Iowa Hawkeyes guard is arguably the most talked-about athlete right now — in college the professional sports—and is bringing long-deserved attention to women’s basketball while she’s at it.
During her final home game on March 3, Clark coincidentally became the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer (among men and women). Tickets for the sold-out game were the most expensive in women’s basketball history (both NCAA and WNBA)—not surprising, given that other games she’s played in have drawn television records, very. The 15,000 fans who came to witness Clark’s IRL court dominance that day included basketball great (and Clark’s boyhood idol) Maya MooreJake from State Farm and rapper Travis Scott.
And she’s only looking to add to all the accolades as March Madness continues: Clark is right in the middle of her latest NCAA tournament run, leading her team to the Sweet Sixteen for the third time (the team’s fourth since 2019). The top-seeded Hawkeyes will face the number five seed Colorado Buffaloes on March 30 at 3:30 p.m. ET, vying for a spot in the next step, the Elite Eight. To find out everything you need to know about basketball’s fastest-rising star yet, here are some fun facts to get you started.
1. He has been playing basketball since the third grade.
Clark grew up playing competitive sports, including soccer and softball, but had basketball specifically on her mind since the age of nine. On an ESPN Look inside Interview, Clark shared a dream board she made in elementary school of her life goals, which included getting a basketball scholarship and playing in the WNBA. Check, check. (We’ll have to stay tuned for “giant mansion” and “three or four kids.”)
2. Clark played on boys’ teams as a kid.
As a middle child, Clark grew up in a self-described “sports family” and her dad was her first basketball coach. He recognized her advanced skills early on and signed her to the boys’ teams so she would continue to be tackled. He played on the boys’ football and basketball teams longer than most teams go on — until about sixth grade — and even won MVP one year. “I think it was extremely special in my development and it was something that I never minded,” he told ESPN. “It was like, I’m a girl, I can hold my own, that’s not something I was afraid of.”
3. Her brothers helped her reach her athletic potential.
Clark calls her siblings both her “biggest supporters” and “biggest haters at the same time,” laughingly telling ESPN that they continue to put her down. Specifically, she credits her older brother, whom she describes as always being “bigger, stronger, faster,” for pushing her athletically. “Whenever I wanted to play with him and his friends … I never won anything, and my mom always said if you want to play with them, you have to find a way to hang on,” he told ESPN.
4. She brings home more cash than any other women’s basketball player.
In 2021, the NCAA enacted a rule allowing college players to monetize their name, image and likeness (NIL). In other words, student-athletes can now be paid for promotions with social media brands, advertisements and other partnerships. The rule effectively catapulted the first athletes to college, and Clark is seizing her moment.
Thanks to her 1.1 million Instagram followers and all that national attention, Clark has been a natural partner for big brands including State Farm, Gatorade and Nike. Its deals total $3.1 million as of January 2022, according to the verified NIL deal tracker run by At 3. That amount makes Clark the NCAA’s highest-paid women’s basketball player and the fourth-highest-paid college athlete (behind men’s basketball players Bronny James and Shedeur Sanders and women’s gymnastics star Livvy Dune).
5. A marketing expert helps her make the most of it.
When she’s not shooting free throws or hitting irons, you can catch Clark planning a killer retail strategy. She is an honors student majoring in marketing with a minor in communication studies at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business. And her campaign-filled Instagram grid is just proof that hitting those books pays off.
