Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever to play exhibition game at Iowa in May
Caitlin Clark is returning to Iowa — this time to play an exhibition game with the Indiana Fever.
The Fever will take on the Brazilian National Team at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on May 4 as part of its preseason schedule, the WNBA team announced Thursday.
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The game will pit Fever forward Damiris Dantas, a native of Brazil, against her former squad after she played with the Brazilian National Team in the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.
'We couldn't be more excited to play at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and we know Iowa fans will deliver an unforgettable homecoming for Caitlin,' Kelly Krauskopf, the Fever's president of basketball operations, said in a statement. 'Countless Hawkeye fans have become Fever fans, and we consider them family. That's what will make this preseason matchup so special for us.'
Iowa, are you ready? 🔥
we're coming to Carver-Hawkeye Arena for a preseason game against the Brazilian National Team on Sunday, May 4!
📝: https://t.co/rVo8mvlxYJ pic.twitter.com/2QYoJ8V5NT
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) January 30, 2025
Clark achieved historic levels of success over her four seasons at Iowa. She scored 3,951 points — the most ever in NCAA men's or women's Division I history. She also broke the record for 3-pointers in a single season, made two national championship appearances and was named the National Player of the Year twice.
Those are just some of her accolades from a career so prolific that Iowa is retiring her No. 22 jersey at Carver-Hawkeye Arena this Sunday after its game against No. 4 USC.
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Iowa to retire Caitlin Clark's No. 22 jersey in February
In 2024, the Las Vegas Aces took on the Puerto Rico National Team at South Carolina, the alma mater of Aces superstar A'ja Wilson. Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said then, after more than 13,500 people attended the exhibition game, that these types of contests should happen more often, and the Fever are following in those footsteps by bringing a preseason game to Clark's old stomping grounds.
The WNBA has ventured beyond the league's cities in recent seasons, hosting two preseason games in Canada and regular-season games in Boston. Minnesota and Chicago met in Toronto in 2023 (before the announcement of the Tempo as an expansion team); Los Angeles and Seattle faced off in Edmonton in 2024; and the Connecticut Sun had a regular-season game against the Sparks in Boston last season, with another Boston game against Indiana on the docket this year.
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Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said during the 2024 WNBA All-Star Weekend that she admired what the NBA has with its global games platform and would like to expand the WNBA's imprint internationally. She also suggested the league would continue to grow its footprint domestically.
'Do you do neutral sites in the U.S. to test out expansion markets?' Engelbert said. 'That's another option to do either preseason games or regular-season games.' — Sabreena Merchant, WNBA staff writer
Clark's return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena for a preseason game will generate plenty of buzz at a location that has become the epicenter of women's basketball. The Hawkeyes have sold all women's basketball tickets for the last two seasons, including Clark's final campaign in 2023-24.
Iowa has experience hosting NBA preseason games, notably Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls in 1990. That appearance came a season after the Bulls selected former Iowa standout B.J. Armstrong in the first round.
The Fever's preseason game has the potential to garner more local interest, in a similar fashion to the Crossover at Kinnick exhibition featuring Clark's Hawkeyes against DePaul on Oct. 15, 2023. That event drew 55,646 spectators, the most for a game in women's basketball history. — Scott Dochterman, Iowa beat writer
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