Just a few years ago, former Iowa women’s basketball head coach Lisa Bluder strolled into Carver-Hawkeye Arena before practice to observe Caitlin Clark getting shots up. She stopped to watch the star player take a moment to look up at the jerseys in the rafters.
“Caitlin, someday your name is going to be up there,” Bluder told Clark.
That day has finally come.
The University of Iowa Athletics Department first announced on Dec. 18 that Clark’s No. 22 jersey would be retired in the rafters of Carver-Hawkeye Arena, coinciding with Iowa women’s basketball’s contest with the fourth-ranked USC Trojans on Feb. 2.
Joining Megan Gustafson’s No. 10 in 2020 and Michelle Edwards’ No. 30 in 1990, Clark’s jersey retirement immortalizes her in Hawkeye hoops history.
“I’m forever proud to be a Hawkeye, and Iowa holds a special place in my heart that is bigger than just basketball,” Clark said in the announcement. “It means the world to me to receive this honor and to celebrate it with my family, friends and alumni. It will be a great feeling to look up in the rafters and see my jersey alongside those that I’ve admired for so long.”
The recognition is undoubtedly deserved, as Clark has been the fire beneath the explosion of women’s basketball over the last two years.
“Caitlin Clark has not only redefined excellence on the court but has also inspired countless young athletes to pursue their dreams with passion and determination,” UI athletics director Beth Goetz said in the announcement. “Retiring her number is a testament to her extraordinary contributions and a celebration of her legacy that will continue to inspire future generations. Hawkeye fans are eager to say thank you for so many incredible moments.”
Following a 76-69 upset win over USC and a miniature court storm from the Hawkeye students came two tribute videos — a short, heartfelt documentary with voice-overs from Clark and Bluder and a hype tape squeezing in as many Clark highlights as possible within a 150-second frame.
From there, she walked from the Iowa bench through a tunnel formed by the team out to center court where the sold-out crowd showered her with a well-deserved standing ovation.
She was met by Bluder and current head coach Jan Jensen — the two coaches who won the “recruiting wars” with Clark, snagging her from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. From the first time they watched the then-high school freshman at Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, they were all-in.
“We had a step-back three, we had a semi-shoulder shrug, and we had a little grin looking over to the bench,” Jensen recalled. “We made a pact that we were going to do everything we could to be the last ones standing. And we are so thankful that we were the last ones standing.”
But even with the great interest in the Iowan, they couldn’t have predicted what was to come.
“She’s truly generational,” Jensen said. “She changed the world. She did all these things. And people always ask Lisa and myself, ‘Did you think she was going to be that good?’ Did we think she would become the most recognizable athlete on the planet? Probably not.”
Nonetheless, the coaching pair is eternally grateful to have had the generational talent suiting up in the black and gold — not just for her on-court heroics but for what she was able to do outside the lines.
“The positive image that you’ve brought to this basketball program, this university, this state, to women’s basketball nationally, is unmeasurable,” Bluder said to Clark. “I’ve spent my entire career trying to empower young women. That’s what this is about. You’ve done more in the last four years than anybody could imagine.”
Bluder and Jensen were replaced with Clark’s family — her mom, dad, and two brothers — at center court as they faced the baseline toward the two strings that pulled No. 22 from the floor up to the ceiling for everybody to see.
Then came Clark’s time to speak. And being the kind of person she is, she thanked any and everyone she could.
“I just want to say thank you to everybody that’s here today, first of all — it means a lot to me,” Clark said. “To all the people that have just poured into me throughout the course of my career, from the people that don’t get any recognition, from our media team to our managers, all of you that have given so much of yourselves to allow me to be who I am, thank you. I can’t say it enough. I wouldn’t be here without all of you.”
From all the broken records and the uplift in ratings across all platforms to selling out nearly all stadiums in college and becoming the immediate face of the WNBA, a city-wide celebration for a single person means something more. With it comes a sense of hope and power for the next generation.
“I think it’s just fantastic to see the achievement of women and to see it recognized in the way that it is, and not just here in this arena but nationally,” Iowa City resident Sharon Beck said.
Joining the 15,000 Hawkeye fans watching No. 22 rise to the ceiling of Carver-Hawkeye Arena were a handful of young hoopers looking to be the next to add their numbers beside it.
Among others, that included five- and four-star commits Addie Deal and Journey Houston, respectively, in the class of 2025 as well as five-star guard Kate Harpring in the class of 2026 — the second overall recruit in her class.
Clark serves as the poster child of development in the Iowa women’s basketball program, a process Jensen and assistant coach Abby Stamp can market to highly touted recruits yet to make a decision regarding their next four years of basketball.
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Granted, Clark arrived in Iowa City from Dowling Catholic with boatloads of talent, leading the NCAA in scoring in her first season with 26.6 points per game.
But every recruit brings that potential to the table. Alongside the guidance from Jensen, Stamp, and former head coach Lisa Bluder, though, Clark’s perfectionist mindset around the court and never-ending push to be better turned her into something more.
When she left the court in the NCAA national championship last April, exchanging soft yet sorrowful smiles and loving hugs with her coaches on the bench, she was more than critics questioning her legacy in coming up short twice.
She was a three-time Big Ten champion and two-time national runner-up. More importantly, she was the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer — men’s or women’s. She was a two-time Naismith College Player of the Year and two-time Wooden Award winner. Her accolades take a minute or two to read.
“I will never forget her first press conference after she signed where she stated what she wanted to do, which is to take Iowa back to a Final Four,” Jensen said at media day on Oct. 10, 2024, ahead of this year’s season. “Well, she got two, right?”
And while the LSU Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks won the NCAA titles over Clark and the Hawkeyes in back-to-back seasons, it’s just that which is remembered of the explosion of women’s basketball this decade — Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes.
“Caitlin’s ability to empower those around her, to believe in what possibly the others didn’t think was possible, that’s what you’ll miss initially,” Jensen said.
One year later, she’s 2024’s AP Female Athlete of the Year after her rookie season with the Indiana Fever gave her WNBA All-Star, All-WNBA First Team, and WNBA Rookie of the Year nods.
In addition to the eyes now on the WNBA with Clark’s emergence, a tangible product of her impact and value comes economically.
Per USA Today, Clark’s draw with the team’s success in her senior season generated over $3 million in ticket revenue. The “Caitlin Clark effect” has its own Wikipedia page.
“No one forced this on anyone — it wasn’t media-driven,” Christine Brennan of USA Today wrote in a column last May. “It was the fans. They did it. People want to spend their money to see her. They want to buy her jersey. They want to wait in line for hours to get into the building where she’s playing.”
So, prices just to get into Carver-Hawkeye Arena for Sunday’s contest skyrocketed with the ceremony announcement. An initial average of $314 per ticket, according to Eric Nemeth in a release on behalf of ticketing website Victory Live, jumped to an average of $420.
Fans got their money’s worth from the very start to the very finish. Hundreds of fans were already posted outside the stadium hours before tipoff, forming a long line trailing down the block before the doors opened.
“When I went out to shoot, there were already people in the stadium,” Iowa guard Lucy Olsen said. “I was like, ‘What is this? People aren’t supposed to be here yet.’ And then when we came out to warm up, it was so loud already before tipoff.”
Fans poured into the arena immediately to where nearly all seats were taken half an hour before gametime. The magnitude of the day — immortalizing an all-time great Hawkeye combined with a matchup against a top team in the nation — set the stage for such an environment.
“I’m really impressed with the atmosphere here, the love for women’s basketball,” USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “We know that [from] the things we’re doing. We get to write our own story but are part of a synergy around women’s basketball that has, in many ways, emanated from here.”
“It’s just a testament to what Caitlin’s done and the direction that the sport is headed in,” USC guard Juju Watkins added. “I’m super grateful to have a part in it.”
That’s what the day was about — showing gratitude for having witnessed arguably the greatest collegiate career across any sport. The jersey retirement was a way for the Iowa women’s basketball program to give thanks, but the turnout for the event was a way for the city of Iowa City to give thanks.
“She’s made huge history here on campus but also across the country and across the world,” Christopher Metsgar, who traveled from his home of San Antonio, Texas, to attend the game, said. “It’s amazing to look around the stadium and see all the young women with number 22, and they see someone that looks like them.”
Caitlin Clark stepped foot in Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the first time without donning her iconic 22 on her chest. The Hawkeye faithful donned it for her instead.
And of all the 22s to be seen in the stands, the most notable one wasn’t seen until after the Iowa-USC game when it was hung up in the rafters — a place where no other player can touch it, or her impact, ever again.