USA Today via Reuters

The Caitlin Clark effect doesn’t seem to have an end. The new Indiana Fever star has been the center of attention even a month before the WNBA season tips off. Since she made it to the draft, she has been catering to her fans’ curiosity about how she did it and became the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer. Her presence makes everyone and everything around a bit better with her Caitlin Clark effect. Taking all these vibes to her new home, Clark got a pumped-up welcome from former Indianapolis Colts punter, Pat McAfee.

As she walked onto the set of The Pat McAfee Show, she gave her #22 jersey to the host. Filled with enthusiasm for having Clark on the show, Pat took the official #22 jersey, saying, “I have something for you actually. As a welcome to the city which we are incredibly lucky to have you. I hope you felt that from all of Indianapolis. Okay, the Indianapolis coach brought something up here for me to give to you and uh, I believe literally you can play whatever position you want on the team, it’s a uh, it is an official jersey.”

Although she was surprised initially, Clark happily showed off the gear. Expressing his joy about Clark being a part of Indiana, Pat said, “We’re all pumped that you’re here and I hope you feel that.” Settling into the show, they entered the discussion about when Clark decided to be a part of the WNBA.

Elaborating her thoughts about hoping to be selected by Indiana, she said, ” Yeah so, when the draft lottery happened I actually had a game on the same exact night but I was hoping the Fever got the first pick and obviously I’m a Midwest girl. I’m from Iowa like this is 5 hours from Iowa City, 7 hours from De Moine where I grew up, um but I’m super pumped like this is a basketball state like people love it here.”

Ever since the NCAA Championship game, fans have been waiting for Clark to play in the WNBA as she will be teaming up with last year’s #1 draft pick Aliyah Boston. But this will not be the first time they have joined forces. Clark and Boston were former teammates on an under-19 USA basketball team.

Clark will now head home to complete her graduation and finish the business left at Iowa, then she will be moving to Indianapolis for her WNBA debut. Let’s get into the details of that.

Caitlin Clark making her WNBA debut

Since the commencement of the 2024 NCAA championship tournament, Clark’s schedule has been jam-packed. She hasn’t been able to get a breather in the middle of this back-and-forth situation. Moreover, the heftiness of things clashing with each other is not stopping soon as Clark is set to make her WNBA debut on May 14, which is the same as her graduation day at Iowa.

While she is speculated to miss her graduation in person, Clark will most likely make it to both events, given her highly driven and all-rounder mindset.