Why is Caitlin Clark not in the WNBA?

The 2023 WNBA season tips off on Friday, May 19, and will be doing so without the biggest name in women’s college basketball from this year. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark was not eligible for the 2023 WNBA Draft, which requires that players turn 22 in the same calendar year of the draft.

Clark will not turn 22 until January 22, 2024, and will return to the Iowa Hawkeyes this upcoming season in search of the national title that just barely evaded her this past year.

After that, it is presumed that she will enter the 2024 WNBA Draft and will likely be the top selection. She was named the AP Player of the Year, the Naismith College Player of the Year, and a first-team All-American in 2023, among many more awards.

The top selection of the 2023 draft was South Carolina’s Aaliyah Boston. LSU star and national championship winner Angel Reese will also return for another year in the NCAA.