In perhaps the most obvious jersey retirement decision of all time, the University of Iowa announced Wednesday that Caitlin Clark’s jersey will be retired on February 2nd, in a home game against the University of Southern California.
Caitlin Clark’s jersey retirement in Iowa is already setting records
Clark’s jersey will be retired on February 2nd, when the Iowa Hawkeyes host JuJu Watkins and the USC Trojans.
Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images
Noa Dalzell is a senior writer covering the WNBA and all of women’s basketball for Breakaway, SB Nation’s women’s sports vertical, as well as the Celtics for CelticsBlog.
Clark, fresh off of a record-breaking rookie campaign with the Indiana Fever, is NCAA basketball’s all-time leading scorer and one of the most prolific college basketball players in the sport’s history. So, her jersey retirement was always a matter of when, not if.
Fittingly, if you want to go catch Clark’s jersey retirement ceremony in February, you’re looking at some of the highest ticket prices in women’s college basketball history. As it currently stands, the get-in price for seats is over $700, which would mark the most expensive regular season women’s college basketball game in history.
Luckily for fans, there will be more in store that night than just the retirement ceremony. The game itself is a match-up between two Top 25 college basketball teams that will also feature some of the best young players in the game. The Hawkeyes (9-2, ranked #22 in the nation) will host JuJu Watkins and the University of Southern California (10-1, ranked #7).
On Iowa’s side, transfer guard Lucy Olsen (18.3 points, 4.9 assists per game) and junior Hannah Stuelke (13.9 points, 7.6 rebounds) are the standouts. For USC, it’s sophomore JuJu Watkins (24.7 points, 5.8 rebounds) and senior Kiki Iriafen (18.7 points, 9.2 rebounds) who have led the way.
To say there was never a doubt about whether Clark’s jersey would be retired would be the understatement of the century. In four seasons at Iowa, the standout point guard averaged 28.4 points, 8.2 assists, and 7.1 rebounds, shooting 46.2% from the field and 37.7% from three. Clark led the Hawkeyes to two consecutive National Championship appearances, ultimately falling to LSU in 2023 and South Carolina in 2024.
As a rookie on the Fever, Clark was named to the All-WNBA First Team, averaging 19.2 points, 8.4 assists, and 5.7 rebounds. She helped lead the Fever to their first playoff berth since 2018 while driving viewership and attendance records.
Iowa fans won’t get to watch Clark at the Carver Hawkeye Arena any longer — but on February 2nd, she’ll be back in the building celebrating her illustrious collegiate accomplishments.
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