IOWA CITY, Iowa — Caitlin Clark wasn’t back in her old home arena to play a game.
Still, the “butterflies,” the former University of Iowa guard said, were quite similar.
Clark returned to Iowa’s Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday to have her No. 22 jersey retired in a ceremony after the Hawkeyes’ 76-67 win over the fourth-ranked University of Southern California, one season after she completed her historic college career.
“I feel like I already have those butterflies in your stomach when you walk in here,” Clark said during a pregame news conference. “Not so much for a basketball game now, but obviously just to be around everybody and to enjoy this environment. I don’t have to go and compete for 40 minutes, even though I wish maybe I could. I think it will definitely be a little bit more emotional that I don’t have to compete.”
Clark was at center court with her family as the No. 22 went up into the rafters. She was smiling throughout the ceremony.