Clark Ends College Career With Loss; Still Called GOAT

Caitlin Clark may have hung up her jersey as an Iowa Hawkeye, but she will always be viewed as a GOAT.

“I wanna personally thank Caitlin Clark for lifting up our sport, she carried a heavy load, when she’s the number 1 pick in the WNBA draft she’s gonna lift that league up as well. So Caitlin if you’re out there you are one of the GOATS,” Dawn Staley, South Carolina head coach, said after her team claimed the NCAA Women’s Basketball title. 

The swan song of her college career may have ended in a 87-75 loss, the walked off the court to state there was “not a regret” within her, according to ESPN.

“Whether it’s the way the fans have supported me, the way I’ve been able to represent my state where I grew up, my family being at every single game — there’s not a regret in my mind of how things went,” Clark said, per ESPN. “I’ll be able to sleep every night even though I never won a national championship.”

According to Heavy.com, Clark scored 30 points, had eight rebounds and five assists in Sunday’s championship game. While Iowa had a 27-20 lead at one point, South Carolina mounted a comeback and outscored Iowa in all three of the final quarters.

Clark said in a post-game interview that this season was more special for her, while also giving credit where credit was due as far as the outcome of the game.

“To be honest, this year was probably more special than last year,” the star guard said, according to Heavy.com. “The teams we had to go through to get to this point. We won the Big Ten tournament. We lost two players that were three-year starters for our program, and to be back in this position and come out here and battle.

“I mean, South Carolina is just so good. There’s only so much you can do. [Kamilla Cardoso] has 17 rebounds. They have 51 as a team. We have 29. Hard to win a basketball game like that. You’ve basically got to shoot perfect at that point. I’m just proud of our group. We never backed down, and we gave it everything we’ve got.”

Clark is primed to enter the WNBA and is expected to be selected by the Indiana Fever with the No. 1 pick in the draft on April 15, per Heavy.com.

Until then, Clark knows she has to deal with some emotions after Sunday’s loss.

“For me, just the emotions will probably hit me over the next couple days,” Clark added. “I don’t have much time to sit around and sulk and be upset. I don’t think that’s what I’m about either. Yeah, I’m sad we lost this game, but I’m also so proud of myself. I’m so proud of my teammates. I’m so proud of this program.

“There’s a lot to be proud of, but there’s going to be tears. It is sad this is all over, and this is the last time I’m going to put on an Iowa jersey.”

But she won’t be down for long.

“I don’t sit and sulk about the things that never happened. My mom always taught me, ‘Keep your head high, be proud of everything that you’ve accomplished.’ And, you know, I think I’m so hungry for a lot more, too,” per ESPN.

She was asked if knowing that she will start her new season in the WNBA soon made the end of her college career any easier.

“I think it helps,” Clark said. “What better way to train and prepare for my next step in life than playing in the Final Four? I’ll be able to play my first WNBA game here soon.These moments are going to make me ready for the next chapter on my life, but also [I want to] enjoy this one, too.”

What Clark was able to accomplish in her four years at Iowa is not lost as “she leaves as not just the best player in Iowa history, but one of the best in NCAA history,” per ESPN.

“She moved needles, she did things that no one was doing other than Steph Curry, shooting from where she shot, but never losing her sense of fun and flair,” said longtime Iowa assistant coach Jan Jensen. “I wish we could have helped her get us to the title … But most people can respect her greatness. Maybe they won’t call her ‘GOAT’ … But she’ll always be our GOAT.”

Whether win or lose, her records stand for themselves.

“She finished with more points — 3,951 — than any men’s or women’s player ever in Division I. She is the only D-I women’s player to have more than 3,000 points and 1,000 assists in her career, totaling 1,144 assists. She also had 990 rebounds.

Her 28.42 points per game and 548 3-pointers are both D-I career records, and this year’s 201 3-pointers and 1,234 points are D-I single-season records,” per ESPN.

“Those things are so hard to accomplish,” Clark said. “That was never something I was chasing in my career [or] anything I ever set out to do. I have to give Coach [Lisa] Bluder a lot of credit because she’s allowed me to be myself.

“Whether it’s the shots I take, the fire I play with … She’s allowed me to be me, and I don’t know if there’s many coaches across the country that I could have committed to that would have allowed me to do that. I wouldn’t have had this type of career.”

“When I reflect back on my [Iowa] career, I know I gave it every single thing I had,” Clark said. “Basically, everybody believed there’s no way Iowa was making the Final Four once. But to do it twice? That’s pretty incredible.”

Many took to X, formerly Twitter, laud Clark on her accomplishments.