IOWA CITY, Iowa — It's been a busy week for Iowa star Caitlin Clark. In just five days, the 22-year-old guard set a new record, signed two major NIL deals and was voted Big Ten Player of the Year.
To cap it all off, Clark sat down for an exclusive interview with Good Morning America's Robin Roberts, which aired Thursday morning on Local 5 (ABC). The two discussed Clark's recent achievements, her rise to stardom and the future of her basketball career.
Clark recently decided to forego a fifth year at Iowa to enter the WNBA draft, calling the decision both a "win-win" and a "lose-lose".
"I'm just kind of ready for the next chapter and a new challenge in my life," Clark said. "I think the reason I decided to announce it when I did was just to have that closure, especially going into senior night."
The interview comes on the heels of two record-breaking games. Most recently, Clark broke the late Pete Maravich's record to become the all-time NCAA Division I scoring leader.
"I honestly didn't realize it until everybody started going wild," Clark said. "It's just cool to have so many people in the stands that, one, appreciate women's basketball, but they understand the history of it."
Clark broke the NCAA women's scoring record just over two weeks earlier with a dramatic three-pointer from well beyond the three-point arc.
The spot from which she broke the record has been memorialized with a special logo, featuring Clark's name and jersey number, "22". Roberts visited Carver Hawkeye Arena to see the spot for herself, marveling at the distance.
"When I first went out there and looked at it, I'm like, 'This has to be in the wrong spot'," Clark told Roberts. "It seems way further back than where I actually shot it from."
With the WNBA draft about a month away and the Big Ten tournament on the horizon, Roberts asked Clark what she thinks makes fans so excited about her games.
"I think it's just the style of basketball that I play," Clark said. "But I also think people love the fire, the emotion that I have, and like, the smile I always have on my face."
For Clark, that smile is genuine. After all, she's achieving her dream.
"I dreamed of playing in front of these types of crowds, in these types of environments," Clark said. "During every national anthem or every pregame, I just try to take a deep breath and look around and soak in the environment, because it seriously never gets old."