The Caitlin Clark era for the Indiana Fever has finally begun after the franchise went ahead and did what the entire basketball world expected them to do Monday night, as they selected the former Iowa Hawkeyes superstar No. 1 overall at the 2024 WNBA Draft.
This just doesn't mean that the Fever now have the hottest name in women's basketball in the form of Clark, but they have also successfully paired her with her former college rival, Aliyah Boston, who played for the South Carolina Gamecocks — the same program that denied Clark and the Hawkeyes a national title in the recently concluded 2024 NCAA Tournament. It can also be recalled that Clark and the Hawkeyes were the last team Boston played against in college, with Iowa eliminating the Gamecocks in the Final Four round of the 2023 edition of March Madness.
Moreover, getting Clark also means that the Fever have the last two winners of the women's Naismith College Player of the Year; Boston took home the award in 2022 before Clark won it in back-to-back fashion in 2023 and 2024. After finishing the 2022 season with just a 5-31 record, the Fever got the top overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft and used it to select Boston.
Although Indiana still finished near the bottom of the standings — third worst — the Fever improved by several games in Boston's first season in the pros, as they went 13-27. The expectation for the Fever just got higher and more intense, considering that they now have the enviable duo of Clark and Boston — two scoring machines who will have to figure out how to co-exist alongside each other.
In her first season in the WNBA, Boston averaged 14.5 points on an excellent 57.8 percent shooting from the floor to go with 8.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per outing. As for Clark, everyone is intrigued whether her incredible game at the collegiate level would translate smoothly into the WNBA. Over her four-year stint with the Hawkeyes, Clark amassed averages of 28.4 points on 46.2 field goal percentage and 37.7 percent success rate from behind the arc, 7.1 rebounds, and 8.2 assists through 139 games.
The Fever have not been to the WNBA Playoffs since 2016, but that near 10-year drought seems like it's about to end in 2024 if Clark finds her footing in the pros right away and if she and Boston perfectly complement each other. Those will have to wait, but for now, Indiana must be so ecstatic and excited over what awaits them in the near future, with this Clark-Boston tandem oozing with so much potential of becoming the best in the WNBA right away.
Caitlin Clark-Aliyah Boston Fever duo has basketball fans hyped
Of course, the internet is brimming with reactions to the Fever realizing their dream of a Clark-Boston duo.
“That Caitlin Clark-Aliyah Boston combo is going to be nasty #WNBADraft,” Jemele Hill shared on X (formerly Twitter).
“The Aliyah Boston Caitlin Clark inside out duo is officially here !!” Chris Williamson of CBS Sports said.
“The Indiana Fever era in the W is going to be fantastic Caitlin Clark is officially home Let’s. Go,” posted @BostonConnr.
“There It Is. Iowa's Caitlin Clark goes No. 1 overall to the Indiana Fever. She'll join South Carolina legend Aliyah Boston in Indiana. Poised to become one of the most exciting dominant duos in league history,” chimed in David Eickholt of 247 Sports.
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