Caitlin Clark Named Unanimous AP WNBA Rookie of the Year After Historic 2024 Season

Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark was the unanimous choice among the 15-person panel for the Associated Press' WNBA Rookie of the Year award.

"This is a tremendous honor to be named The Associated Press Rookie of the Year," she said to the AP's Doug Feinberg. "This recognition wouldn't be possible without an incredible group of teammates and coaches, and we are looking forward to continuing an exciting regular season in the postseason."

The decisive result could foreshadow the voting returns for the official Rookie of the Year race.

Through the first half of the season, Clark faced a stiff challenge from the Chicago Sky's Angel Reese. Reese was a double-double machine and helping her team hover near .500 (10-14) heading into the Olympic break.

The fortunes of Clark and Reese then diverged from mid-August on.

The Fever moved up to sixth in the standings and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2016. The Sky, meanwhile, slumped to a 13-27 finish and missed the postseason by two games.

Her candidacy already losing steam, Reese was out Chicago's final six games thanks to a wrist injury. Clark closed by averaging 23.1 points on 43.5 percent shooting along with 8.9 assists per contest in Indiana's final 14 games.

The 2024 No. 1 overall pick wound up claiming a number of Fever and WNBA records, most notably dishing out more assists than any player ever (337). She also posted the first triple-double for a rookie when she had 19 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists in a July win over the New York Liberty.

On the whole, Clark lived up to the massive hype surrounding her after a historic college career at Iowa, and she may have even surpassed expectations in her first year.

Her AP ROY nod is richly deserved and she'll add some more hardware to her trophy cabinet before too long.