But that didn’t make the moment any less special for Clark, her loved ones, her Iowa family and the ecstatic fans who packed Gainbridge Fieldhouse back in Indianapolis to see her hold up a Fever jersey on the jumbotron.
“When you’re just sitting at a table waiting for your name to be called, that really allows the emotions to feed you,” Clark said. “You’re with your family. Obviously, playing a basketball game, I’m not out there with my family. So sharing that moment with them and enjoying it, and people that have really had my back and believed in me more than anyone, is super special.”
The Los Angeles Sparks, rebuilding following the departure of Nneka Ogwumike in free agency, selected two players in the lottery: Stanford’s Cameron Brink at No. 2 and Tennessee’s Rickea Jackson at No. 4. Brink joins Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike as the third Stanford player selected in the top two of the WNBA draft and is the program’s 15th first-rounder.
“I love that I get to stay on the West Coast, and I love that they took a chance on me,” Brink said. “I feel like I’m just going to show that I can work really hard and help them a lot. But also, I’ll be close to family, which is really important for me.”
Jackson, who started her career at Mississippi State, is Tennessee’s 19th first-round pick, the second most in WNBA draft history.
The Chicago Sky made a splash in selecting South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso (No. 3) and LSU’s Angel Reese (No. 7), the 2024 and 2023 Final Four Most Outstanding Players, respectively. Cardoso helped the Gamecocks win their third national championship to complete an undefeated season, then attended the team’s championship parade Sunday before traveling to New York.
“She’s a great player, and I’m a great player,” Cardoso said of Reese, someone she played against in high school and in SEC play. “Nobody’s going to get no rebounds on us,” she added with a laugh.
In a new era with WNBA legend Teresa Weatherspoon at the helm, the Sky swapped picks with Minnesota on Sunday to draft seventh.
