Though she had quite the gravitational pull already, Caitlin Clark’s play during the Iowa Hawkeyes‘ run to the women’s college basketball national championship game against LSU only amplified her stardom.
Fans can’t get enough of The Caitlin Clark Show. That’s evidenced by her spiking number of social media followers and her soaring NIL valuations after Iowa’s trip to the Final Four.
Caitlin Clark had a number of sports stars raving during Iowa’s march to the title game as she became the first women’s player to register back-to-back 40-point performances in NCAA Tournament history. LeBron James, Dick Vitale, Stephen A. Smith and Isaiah Thomas all took notice, just to name a few.
Frankly, how could any sports fan not get caught up in Clark mania? She was sensational all season long with averages of 27.8 points, 8.6 assists, and 7.1 rebounds on 47.3% shooting and 38.9% 3-point shooting.
Clark’s assists per game led the nation and her points per game trailed only Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist. The 6-foot guard knocked down 3.68 3-pointers per game to lead the country in that category, too. Her five triple-doubles last season were also tops nationally.
In short, the West Des Moines product was flat-out incredible once again this past season. In fact, she swept the national player of the year awards.
Now, thanks to her rising fame, Caitlin Clark has been invited to play in the John Deere Classic Pro-Am on Wednesday, July 5 from TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois. She will play alongside two-time major winner and fellow Iowa native Zach Johnson as well as three other amateurs.
“We are thrilled to be able to bring our fans the opportunity to see Caitlin Clark and Zach Johnson, two Iowa sports heroes, play in the John Deere Classic Pro-Am at TPC Deere Run. Zach has been the face of the tournament for many years and Caitlin’s presence will bring a jolt of electricity to the grounds and help us introduce youngsters and non-golf fans to this great game,” tournament director Andrew Lehman said.
Johnson, 47, is also a 12-time PGA Tour winner and is currently the U.S. Ryder Cup captain, which will be played in Rome in September.
Tickets for the tournament, including the Wednesday Pro-Am, may be purchased at http://www.johndeereclassic.com. Fans that are 15 and under are free with a paid adult.