Clark crowned as top rookie after historic year

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark was a near-unanimous pick for WNBA Rookie of the Year, the league announced Thursday.

Clark, the No. 1 draft pick in April, got 66 of 67 votes from a national media panel. The other vote went to the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese, who was the No. 7 pick in the draft.

Fever players have won the award in back-to-back seasons; Indiana forward/center Aliyah Boston won the honor last year after she was also the No. 1 draft pick. Clark and Boston helped lead the Fever to their first playoff appearance since 2016 before they were swept in the first round by the Connecticut Sun.

“I am incredibly honored to be named Rookie of the Year, but more than that, I am grateful to everyone that supported me throughout this past season — my family and friends, my teammates, the Fever organization and everyone that cheered us on all season. I am so proud of what we accomplished and so excited for what the future holds,” Clark said in a statement.

Clark was joined on the WNBA All-Rookie Team by Reese, Sky center Kamilla Cardoso, the Los Angeles Sparks’ Rickea Jackson and the New York Liberty’s Leonie Fiebich.

Clark had a record-breaking first WNBA season that followed her history-making college career at Iowa, where she became the all-time leading scorer in Division I basketball, men’s or women’s.

She started all 40 regular-season games for the Fever, who went 20-20 and finished sixth in the league. She averaged 19.2 points, a WNBA-best 8.4 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 35.4 minutes per game. She led all rookies in each of those categories except rebounding, in which she was third. Reese led the WNBA in rebounding average at 13.1.

Along with leading the league in assists, Clark was first in 3-pointers (122) and second in minutes per game and free throw percentage (90.6). She was seventh overall in scoring.

Her 337 assists set a WNBA single-season record, and she had a single-game record of 19 assists against the Dallas Wings in July. She also set a rookie season mark with 769 points and became the first WNBA rookie to record a triple-double. (She had two.)

Speaking after the Fever’s 87-81 loss in Game 2 against the Sun, Clark said she was thrilled about the potential she and the team have ahead of them.

“The fun part is I feel like I’m just scratching the surface,” Clark said. “I know I want to help this franchise get even better, help my teammates get even better, be better for my teammates. I know there’s a lot of room for me to continue to improve, so that’s what excites me the most.”