Caitlin Clark has her No. 22 jersey retired by Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena

Indiana’s sweetheart, Caitlin Clark, returned home Sunday as Iowa retired her No. 22 jersey at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The recently crowned WNBA Rookie of the Year was honored as just the third Iowa player to have their jersey retired, joining Megan Gustafson (No. 10, retired in 2020) and Michelle Edwards (No. 30, retired in 1990).

“I feel like I already have those butterflies in your stomach when you walk in here,” Clark said during a pregame press conference. “Not so much for a basketball game now, but obviously just to be around everybody and to enjoy this environment. I don’t have to go and compete for 40 minutes, even though I wish maybe I could. I think it will definitely be a little bit more emotional that I don’t have to compete.”

Clark was at center court with her family as the No. 22 went up into the rafters. She was smiling throughout the ceremony.

The jersey retirement capped a historic career for Clark at Iowa. She became college basketball’s all-time leading scorer while leading the Hawkeyes to back-to-back appearances in the NCAA national championship game the last two seasons.

A sellout crowd of 14,998 included Lisa Bluder, Clark’s former coach at Iowa, and Stephanie White, Clark’s current coach with the WNBA’s Indiana Fever. The Fever will play an exhibition game at Iowa on May 4.

Former Iowa teammates Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall were in courtside seats alongside former talk-show host David Letterman. USC’s coaches and players stayed on the court after the game to witness the ceremony.

“I’m sure it wasn’t cheap to get in,” Clark quipped during the ceremony.

“The positive image that you’ve brought to this basketball program, this university, this state, and women’s basketball nationally, is unmeasurable,” Bluder said. “I’ve spent my entire career trying to empower young women. That’s what it’s all about. But you’ve done more than that in the last four years, more than anyone can imagine.”

Clark reflected before the game on her time with the Hawkeyes, when she was part of teams that reached four NCAA tournaments and won three Big Ten Tournament titles.

“The winning came because of the great culture that we had,” she said. “And for me, I hope that’s the thing that always stays intact, and I know it will, because of the great coaching staff we have and the type of players that they are here. We had players that were selfless. We had players that didn’t care how many points you were going to score. They’re going to do whatever they could for your teammates. They were going to hold their teammates accountable. And I think that’s a lost art in college these days, and you don’t always see that.”

Clark knows she is in a constant media spotlight these days, whether it’s attending concerts or joining Taylor Swift in a suite at a Kansas City Chiefs NFL playoff game. She said she understands the criticism that comes with attention.

“I feel like one of my greatest skills is I really don’t care,” Clark said. “I don’t care — I believe in myself. I’m confident in myself. I’m confident in my teammates. I try to instill that in them. I’m confident in the coaching staff on whatever team I was on, whether that was here, whether that’s with the Fever now, and you just rely on those people. Nobody gets to step inside of your locker room. Everybody thinks they know everything and have an answer, but that’s just not reality.”

Clark’s jersey was hung in the rafters on the same day that South Carolina retired A’ja Wilson’s jersey. They both wore 22 in college.

In April 2024, Clark was selected with the first overall pick in the WNBA draft by the Fever. In her rookie campaign, Clark added many accolades to her résumé, including becoming the first rookie to drop a triple-double in a WNBA game, being named to the All-Rookie team and leading the league in assists.

Clark, the 2024 AP Athlete of the Year, is widely regarded as a transformational figure in the women’s game, helping to increase visibility in both the women’s college basketball and professional spaces.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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