IOWA CITY – The reigning National Player of the Year, Caitlin Clark, was named to the Wade Trophy Preseason Watch List by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association on Thursday. The Wade Trophy is given to the most outstanding women’s college basketball player in the country.
Clark won the Wade Trophy last season and was a finalist her sophomore year.
Clark was voted 2023-24 Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year, while being a unanimous First Team All-Big Ten selection. She was also named an AP Preseason All-American and to the Nancy Lieberman Watch List earlier last month.
The Wade Trophy — now in its 47th year — is the oldest and most prestigious national player of the year award in college women’s basketball. It is named in honor of the late, legendary Delta State University head coach Lily Margaret Wade, who won three consecutive national championships with the Lady Statesmen. First awarded in 1978 by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD), now known as SHAPE America, the Wade Trophy has been presented to the WBCA NCAA Division I Player of the Year since 2001.
In exhibition play this season, Clark posted the first triple-double in Kinnick Stadium history against DePaul. She added 24 points, nine assists, and four rebounds in Iowa’s win over Clarke University in only 20 minutes of action.
The third ranked Hawkeyes are set to open the regular season against Fairleigh Dickinson inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 6:30 p.m. (CT) on Nov. 6. The game will air on B1G+ (subscription required) and on the Hawkeye Radio Network.
