Fever's Caitlin Clark hailed as savior in hero's welcome to Indy - ESPN

Caitlin Clark received a hero's welcome to Gainbridge Coliseum on Wednesday morning as the first overall pick in the WNBA draft stepped into her new home arena to a flock of fans and a packed opening news conference.

«I'm super happy to be here. Thank you to the Fever, the Pacers. This is a dream come true,» said Clark, a two-time National Player of the Year at Iowa and the all-time leading scorer in Division I basketball history.

Indianapolis literally painted the town to usher Clark into a stadium adorned with a 20-foot banner, billboards and video displays of her in an already sold-out No. 22 Fever jersey. More than 6,000 people attended a draft party on Monday to celebrate her arrival.

Clark delivered an opening statement and paused mid-sentence to identify Tamika Catchings, led the Fever to a WNBA championship in 2012, in an audience that included Clark's parents.

«I can't think of a better place for myself to start my career. A place that loves basketball, supports women's basketball, and an organization that really does things the right way, has championship pedigree,» Clark said.

Indiana had a 13-27 record in 2023 to secure its second consecutive No. 1 pick in the draft. The Fever last had a winning season in 2015.

Clark follows 2023 No. 1 pick Aliyah Boston to Indianapolis and said staying in the Midwest — she's about five hours from the Iowa campus — felt like a scripted end to her storied college career.

«There's just so much talent on this roster. Obviously Aliyah has been one of my teammates before with USA Basketball and I know first-hand how great she is. Erica Wheeler is somebody that's been having my back and we're not even teammates yet. A vet, somebody that's been in the league for a really long time.