Caitlin Clark to forgo final year at Iowa, enter WNBA draft - ESPN

Iowa women's basketball star Caitlin Clark announced on social media Thursday that she will be finishing her college career this year and won't be coming back for a fifth season via the COVID-19 waiver.

Clark, who is projected as the WNBA's No. 1 pick by the Indiana Fever, broke the women's major college scoring record Wednesday with a 33-point performance at Minnesota. She has 3,650 points and is 18 from passing LSU's Pete Maravich, who holds the Division I overall record between men's and women's basketball with 3,667 points. Clark is 235 points shy of Pearl Moore (3,884 points), who set the AIAW overall/small-school record at Francis Marion from 1975 to 1979.

«While this season is far from over and we have a lot more goals to achieve, it will be my last one at Iowa,» Clark wrote. «I am excited to be entering the 2024 WNBA Draft.

»It is impossible for me to fully express my gratitude to everyone who has supported me during my time at Iowa — my teammates, who made the last four years the best; my coaches, trainers and staff who always let me be me; Hawkeye fans who filled Carver every night; and everyone who came out to support us across the country, especially young kids."

Clark, who turned 22 in January, could have opted to stay in college another season because of the COVID waiver for the 2020-2021 campaign, her freshman year. Instead, she will move on to the pro game — the draft is April 15 and the season begins May 14 — where she is expected to join Aliyah Boston, last year's No. 1 pick out of South Carolina, with the Fever. Indiana has not made the WNBA playoffs since 2016.

Clark, expected to repeat as national player of the year this season, has 17 triple-doubles in her career, second only to 2020 No. 1 draft