Iowa star Caitlin Clark is leaving for the WNBA after the season and LSU coach Kim Mulkey couldn't be happier. Mulkey half-jokingly said as much to Clark after the Hawkeyes avenged their NCAA women's championship game in the Elite Eight on Monday.
Clark scored 41 points and passed for 12 assists in the 94-87 victory.
"I sure am glad you're leaving," Mulkey told reporters is what she said to Clark during the postgame handshake, where teams line up to exchange good sportsmanship after a game.
The Tigers' season is done; Clark and the Hawkeyes are moving on to the Final Four and another chance to play for a title.
"She's just a generational player," Mulkey said of Clark. "She just makes everybody around her better. That's what the great ones do. I think they had a kid who scored 21 and 18, she had 12 assists, Caitlin Clark is not going to beat you by herself, it's what she does to make those other teammates better that helps her score points and them score points to beat you."
"What did I say to her? I said 'I sure am glad you're leaving. Girl, you something else.' Never seen anything like it."
For the record, the Indiana Fever own the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. They will take Clark, as there hasn't been this much of a sure thing in a draft since the Cleveland Cavaliers took LeBron James back in 2003.
Interestingly, this year's Women's Final Four is in Cleveland.
Kim Mulkey on what she told Caitlin Clark in the handshake line: "I sure am glad you leaving. Girl, you something else. Never seen anything like it." ? pic.twitter.com/tIaW8ASBLD
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) April 2, 2024
Clark and Iowa will next face UConn, which undoubtedly will serve as the Hawkeyes' toughest test yet. But as Clark has shown, nothing is beyond her when she steps on the court. She not only dominates the game individually, but she makes her already pretty good teammates even better.
She gives the Hawkeyes hope that there is nothing that they can't do. No less than Kim Mulkey can confirm.
