In second grade, Caitlin Clark wrote down her WNBA dreams. Now, they’ll finally come true…more.👇

In second grade, Caitlin Clark wrote down her WNBA dreams. Now, they’ll finally come true...more.👇

On Monday, her dreams will come true: She was selected by the Indiana Fever as the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft, launching her professional career in the sport she dominated for the last four years as an Iowa Hawkeye, sinking 3-pointers and breaking records.

“I think more than anything I’m just really excited,” Clark told “TODAY” while spending the weekend in New York City, fresh off the NCAA championship game. She’s trying to “enjoy every single second” of this “whirlwind” year.

But Clark knows starting in the WNBA will be a challenge — a “good challenge for me,” she said, noting that she chose to end her college hoops career with one year of eligibility left to embark on “something new.”

“I hope my game translates to the next level,” said Clark, who broke the all-time scoring record in the NCAA this year. She expects there to be a learning curve when she takes the court in the pros, but she said she knows “there will be good vets around me that I’ll be able to lean on.”

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In second grade, Caitlin Clark wrote down her WNBA dreams. Now, they’ll finally come true.

Clark was drafted by the Indiana Fever as the first overall pick Monday, launching her highly anticipated WNBA career.

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Caitlin Clark talks about her WNBA dream

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April 15, 2024, 12:40 PM GMT+1

By Rebecca Cohen and Stephanie Gosk

In second grade, Caitlin Clark wrote a note to herself, compiling her goals for the future.

“Get a basketball scholarship, play in the WNBA,” Clark recalled the note saying.

On Monday, her dreams will come true: She was selected by the Indiana Fever as the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft, launching her professional career in the sport she dominated for the last four years as an Iowa Hawkeye, sinking 3-pointers and breaking records.

“I think more than anything I’m just really excited,” Clark told “TODAY” while spending the weekend in New York City, fresh off the NCAA championship game. She’s trying to “enjoy every single second” of this “whirlwind” year.

But Clark knows starting in the WNBA will be a challenge — a “good challenge for me,” she said, noting that she chose to end her college hoops career with one year of eligibility left to embark on “something new.”

“I hope my game translates to the next level,” said Clark, who broke the all-time scoring record in the NCAA this year. She expects there to be a learning curve when she takes the court in the pros, but she said she knows “there will be good vets around me that I’ll be able to lean on.”

Having for years served as a talisman for Iowa, Clark said she’s looking forward to relying on her future teammates and not having to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders all the time.

Even though high expectations aren’t going to change as Clark enters the pros, “that’s what you want” when you “want to be one of the best players in the world,” she said.

She may well be on her way to becoming one of the world’s top players, but none of it is an accident.

Those long 3s she’s known for? “Those are shots, like, I practice and work on every single day,” Clark said. “It’s not like I just take the court for a game and just start launching those.

“But I think always I’ve had confidence in myself,” she said. “And so just carrying that and being confident in all the work I’ve put in in the moments and knowing that I’ve earned to be in this moment, that’s always kind of what I remind myself, is, you know, ‘You’re not here by accident.’ Like, it’s all the hard work that you put in. And that’s what led you to this.”

Her hard work might also lead her to the Olympics this summer in Paris, where she could earn a spot on the U.S. women’s basketball team to represent her country on the international stage.

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