On Thursday afternoon, Caitlin Clark announced that she’d be forgoing her extra season of eligibility and entering the 2024 WNBA Draft. That means a week from now, Clark will walk into Target Center in Minneapolis for her final Big Ten tournament. Her final opportunity to wow that crowd with heroics as she has in the previous two seasons, when she led the Hawkeyes to the tournament title. Her final time in which she’s guaranteed to face her Big Ten foes that have both made and maddened her over the past four seasons.
The tickets sold out a week ago, marking the first sellout for the women in conference tournament history. It was no surprise. It was exactly what Clark has done in basically every arena she has visited this season.
In November, in the Hawkeyes’ second game of the season, more than 15,000 showed up in Charlotte, N.C., to watch Iowa play Virginia Tech. While organizing that matchup, organizers’ first call was to Iowa. They wanted the Hawkeyes there because they wanted Clark. It was a sound decision that paid dividends in more ways than one. In January, 18,660 showed up in Columbus to see Clark. The Buckeyes’ average attendance in their other 15 home games this season? One third of that — 6,819. In February, 17,950 arrived in College Park to see Clark….
