Caitlin Clark is, without a doubt, the biggest name in college basketball these days. But before she reached this point in her career, the future WNBA star initially rejected the idea of playing for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Clark spent four years playing for Dowling Catholic, and eventually becoming the number one player from the 2020 high school class by ESPN. After her stint there, the six-foot guard committed to the Iowa Hawkeyes and played her first season there as the team’s starting point guard.
During his first year of college basketball, Clark would help the Hawkeyes reach the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16. In that period, she would average 26.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 7.1 assists per game, leading Division I in scoring as a freshman in the process.
Over the following years since her debut, Clark established herself as a dominant scorer on all levels of the court with elite playmaking in her veins, similar to a mixture of Stephen Curry and Magic Johnson. Her final year in Iowa saw the guard become the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer, breaking Pete Maravich’s old record along the way.
The Reason Why Caitlin Clark Initially Rejected the Iowa Hawkeyes
While Clark has built a legendary career with Iowa, there was a time when she considered another university to play for. In an article written by Jay Postrado for ClutchPoints, the future WNBA star could have played for Notre Dame.
“My family wanted me to go to Notre Dame. At the end of the day, they were like, you make the decision for yourself. But it’s NOTRE DAME! ‘Rudy’ was one of my favorite movies. How could you not pick Notre Dame?” Clark declared.
Turns out, Clark didn’t had a good first impression of Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw when they first met. This meeting changed her mind, causing the guard to commit to Iowa instead. From there, she had a stellar rookie campaign, that led Clark to become the most dominant scorer in women’s college basketball, and one of the brightest young stars in the sport today.
If things played out differently, Clark would have built her collegiate career in Notre Dame. This could have changed the entire course of her journey, which could have gone either good or bad for the young guard. In any case, her commitment to the Hawkeyes sent her down the path of greatness, one that would possibly play out in the WNBA soon.
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