Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark, and former Iowa Hawkeyes standout, had some kind words for USC star JuJu Watkins, despite Iowa’s incredible upset victory over the No. 4-ranked USC Trojans.
Caitlin Clark’s Emotional Speech at Jersey Retirement, Kind Words to JuJu Watkins
Just one year out of playing for the Hawkeyes, Iowa has officially retired Caitlin Clark’s jersey. While this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, it’s a truly remarkable accomplishment, especially given how little time it’s been since she left the college stage.
Clark currently holds a plethora of NCAA records, including being the Division I all-time leading scorer across men’s and women’s basketball, which is only the tip of the iceberg of her success. There’s truly nobody more deserving of this achievement than her.
Caitlin Clark’s #22 Jersey has now been immortalized in Carver-Hawkeye Arena pic.twitter.com/ckJMZwHuLX
— Clark Report (@CClarkReport) February 2, 2025
Just one year into her WNBA career, she’s already made her mark as she finished as the league’s Rookie of the Year, dominating her competition each and every game. She is one of many players who is keeping the future of the WNBA as bright as ever, including Aliyah Boston and Angel Reese.
Some of the sport’s most promising players, however, aren’t even in the league yet, one of which happened to be at Clark’s jersey retirement, USC’s star sophomore Watkins.
In just her second season with the Trojans, Watkins is averaging nearly 25 points per game, to go along with 6.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists. After breaking out in her freshman season, she has continued to play at a very high level, which has to be leaving WNBA teams eagerly waiting for the next two years to pass by.
Clark didn’t let her talent and success go unnoticed, as during her jersey retirement speech, she made sure to show some love to Watkins, saying, “USC, good luck the rest of the way; I’m a big fan of all of you. JuJu, you were awesome.”
Caitlin Clark’s full Jersey retirement speech pic.twitter.com/JJ7UX5Kn1k
— Clark Report (@CClarkReport) February 2, 2025
This is really cool for Clark to be taking time out of such an incredible moment to throw shine on players of the opposing team. This is just another example of her being a total class act, and it’s easy to see why people like her so much, not just on the court but off the court as well.
All in all, this moment could not have gone better as an unranked Iowa team managed to beat a top-four seed the day of Clark’s retirement. Clark must be the Hawkeyes’ good-luck charm as she will forever go down in history books not just for her four years with the team, but that incredible game as well.
