"I’m gonna throw the kitchen sink at her": 2X WNBA champ Kelsey Plum wants Iowa to make bold NIL move for star guard Caitlin Clark
Kelsey Plum and Caitlin Clark have been all over the news this past weekend. Clark surpassed the WNBA champion on the NCAAW all-time scoring record on Thursday. With this feat, there is an increased speculation over what the Iowa guard will do moving forward. And Kelsey Plum has the perfect advice for her and the Hawkeyes.
Speaking about Clark at the NBA All-Star weekend in Indianapolis, the Aces guard first relayed her congratulations on the record:
"She’s incredible. I mean, especially the exact shot that she broke the record. I mean, I think that pretty much sums it up, right? Just pullin’ up from basically half-court.
"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."
The introduction of NIL by the NCAA has allowed college athletes to earn the big bucks. While there are some concerns about the impact of this, the bottom line is that players now do not have to wait till going pro to earn money. There are even some reports which claim that female hoopers can earn way more in college than the WNBA.
Should Caitlin Clark move to WNBA
According to Yahoo Sports, the maximum salary for the highest-paid players in WNBA is $234,936 for the 2023 season. In 2020, it was a slightly lower $215,000. The average salary at the start of the 2023 season was $113,295. Going by this, it is not hard to see that progress, payment-wise, in the league is rather slow. And Caitlin Clark earns so much more at Iowa.
Caitlin Clark has a NIL valuation of $818,000, per ON3, because of her partnerships with Nike, State Farm, Gatorade, H&R Block and Buick, among others. Additionally, after her record-breaking game on Thursday, she became Fanatics’ top-selling college athlete in the NIL era surpassing Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Fanatics also reported that there was an uptick in the number of Clark-branded merchandise selling out in the hours following the game. This number was more than any other individual men’s or women’s NIL college athlete across all sports since 2022 when NIL merchandise began.
A large part of this is the passionate fan following that college athletes enjoy. The Hawkeyes sell out almost all of their games. According to Sportico, expense disclosures show that Iowa brought in over $3.8 million in total revenue in 2022-23. This is more than double what it had raised in any prior recent year. Notably, the WNBA does not enjoy this amount of fan following.
Going by Plum's advice, it would perhaps be better for Caitlin Clark to stay in Iowa one more year. It will be interesting to see what she decides to do.
Also Read: “Indiana Fever could have the first pick”: $818,000 NIL-valued Caitlin Clark drops a major hint on her WNBA destination