Caitlin Clark

Clark has been in a relationship with former University of Iowa men's basketball player Connor McCaffery since April 2023. McCaffery, who later coached at Butler University and worked in player development for the Indiana Pacers and the Noblesville Boom, shares her passion for basketball, and the two frequently practice together in Indianapolis.

Clark comes from an athletic family with eleven relatives who competed in collegiate sports. Her father, Brent Clark, played baseball and basketball at Simpson College, while her older brother Blake played football at Iowa State University. She also has a younger brother, Colin. Outside of basketball, Clark is an avid golfer who has played in LPGA pro-am events alongside professional golfers such as Nelly Korda. She also established the Caitlin Clark Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting youth through education, nutrition, and sports initiatives.

Clark was raised in West Des Moines, Iowa. She showed a competitive nature early in childhood, participating in multiple sports including soccer, volleyball, tennis, softball, and golf. She focused primarily on basketball around sixth grade, joining the All Iowa Attack travel team and competing against boys in youth leagues due to limited opportunities in local girls programs.

She attended Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, where she graduated in 2020. During her high school career, Clark scored 2,547 points, earned Gatorade Iowa Player of the Year honors twice, and received MaxPreps All-America selections. On the international stage, she won gold medals representing USA Basketball at the FIBA Americas and World Cup tournaments at the under-16 and under-19 levels, earning MVP honors at the 2021 Under-19 World Cup.

Clark committed to the University of Iowa, making her collegiate debut in November 2020. As a freshman, she led NCAA Division I in scoring with 26.6 points per game alongside 214 assists, showcasing deep shooting accuracy from well beyond the three-point line. By her junior year, she guided Iowa to the 2023 NCAA national championship game after scoring 41 points in a semifinal upset over undefeated South Carolina, ultimately finishing as runner-up to LSU in a record-setting television broadcast.

During her senior season in 2023-2024, Clark cemented her status in basketball history. On February 15, 2024, she scored a career-high 49 points against Michigan to surpass Kelsey Plum as the NCAA Division I women's all-time leading scorer. Weeks later, she passed Pete Maravich's mark of 3,667 points to become the highest-scoring player in NCAA Division I men's or women's basketball history. She completed her college career with 3,951 total points, won two consecutive Naismith College Player of the Year awards, and led Iowa back to the NCAA title game against South Carolina.

Selected as the number one overall pick by the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA draft, Clark made an immediate impact at the professional level. In her debut season, she set rookie records for total points (769), assists (337), and three-point field goals (122), leading the Fever to their first playoff berth since 2016 and earning WNBA Rookie of the Year honors and an All-Star selection.

Her arrival generated unprecedented commercial growth and fan engagement across the WNBA, driving league attendance up by 48 percent and prompting franchise records in home attendance and merchandise sales for Indiana. Clark subsequently earned repeated All-Star selections and made her senior national team debut with USA Basketball during FIBA World Cup qualifying competition.