Kelsey Plum Urges Iowa to Throw NIL Money at Caitlin Clark to Stay in College
Caitlin Clark has changed the game in women's college basketball, doing something that's never been seen before. Clark constantly hits Steph Curry range shots and recently broke the NCAA women's career scoring record.
Every mock draft has Clark slotted No. 1 to the Indiana Fever, pairing her with former South Carolina star Aliyah Boston. The Fever would have the brightest future in the WNBA with two of the top young players in the league.
However, Las Vegas Aces star Kelsey Plum - and the previous owner of the NCAA all-time scoring record - spoke about her possibly staying at Iowa. She said that Iowa needs to throw the kitchen sink at her to stay around, according to BroBible.
"Everyone’s trying to figure out if she’s coming out or staying put, but if I’m Iowa, I’m gonna throw the kitchen sink at her, for sure."
Money might not be the deciding factor for Clark, but Iowa could likely come up with a massive amount of NIL money to keep her around.
Clark has an NIL valuation of $818,000, according to On3. She has deals with Gatorade, State Farm, and other massive brands. There's a good chance that she makes more right now than she will in the WNBA. According to Yahoo Sports, the average salary in the WNBA was $113,295 at the start of the 2023 season.
The college game is much different than the WNBA. Guards do have a tough time early in their WNBA careers. but it would be surprising to not see Clark find success early on at the next level.
Clark is averaging 32.8 and 8.5 assists per game, leading the nation in both categories. She's shooting 39.9% from three-point range on 13.5 attempts per game.
She's a joy to watch and has grown the women's game tremendously over her four-year career.