CLEVELAND (AP) — Caitlin Clark hasn’t officially entered the WNBA draft yet. Iowa fans shouldn’t get their hopes up that she’s returning for another season.
Clark, who said on social media before the women’s NCAA Tournament began that she would enter the draft, has been busy. Iowa plays UConn in the Final Four on Friday night. She has approximately 48 hours after the season ends to submit the paperwork necessary to take part in the April 15 draft.
Clark isn’t the only one who has not yet filed her paperwork. South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso, who also announced on social media that she would enter the draft, hasn’t officially done so yet. South Carolina faces North Carolina State in the other semifinal Friday.
The WNBA on Thursday released a list of 89 players who are draft eligible. That included LSU’s Angel Reese, who announced Wednesday she was forgoing her final year of eligibility. Players who have exhausted their eligibility don’t have to declare for the draft, so there are more players who still could enter.
One name not on the list was LSU’s Hailey Van Lith, who has a year of eligibility remaining. She entered the transfer portal on Thursday for the second consecutive year.
The WNBA is the hardest U.S. sports league to make, with a maximum of 144 roster spots available. Only 15 of the 36 players drafted last year made opening day rosters.
Other entrants included Tennessee’s Rickea Jackson, UCLA’s Charisma Osborne, Stanford’s Cameron Brink and Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley.
Many players, like Clark, Cardoso and Brink, had the option to return for another season because of the extra year of eligibility that was granted by the NCAA when COVID-19 affected their freshman seasons. This is the final class that was given the bonus season.
The draft will be held in New York at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with 1,000 fans in attendance.
The Indiana Fever have the No. 1 pick and are expected to take Clark. The Los Angeles Sparks have the Nos. 2 and 4 selections, with the Chicago Sky going third.
The WNBA has rules about who is eligible to be drafted. A player must either turn 22 during the year of the draft or graduate within three months after the draft, or the class they entered school with has to have graduated or be set to graduate within three months of the draft. International players who don’t play at a U.S. college are eligible to be drafted if they turn at least 20 during the calendar year of the draft.
