The countdown is on for Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark to return to the court following an accolade-filled rookie season. Training camp kicks off on April 28 with the regular season just a few weeks later.
However, looking back at 2024, Clark had herself a year. While still at Iowa, she racked up nearly every major award in college basketball — Naismith College Player of the Year, USBWA National Player of the Year, Big Ten Player of the Year and unanimous first-team All-America honors, among others.
Then, after being selected No. 1 overall by the Fever in the 2024 WNBA draft, Clark continued her success, making the WNBA All-Star game, being named to the All-WNBA First Team, winning Rookie of the Year, getting chosen to the All-Rookie Team and leading the entire league in assists.
Because of her, women's basketball has been forever changed. Ticket sales, jersey sales, television ratings, media attention and more have all increased. Numbers weren't just up in Indianapolis but also across the entire league.
But despite all that, Clark was somehow left off Time magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People that came out on Wednesday. Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd was live on "The Herd" and couldn't believe it. He called the list “nonsense” without the 23-year-old guard on it.
"How is Caitlin Clark not in this?" Cowherd asked. "Caitlin Clark to the WNBA, and they set all-time ratings records. If Caitlin Clark's not in this, the list is nonsense. ... That's idiotic. That's the dumbest thing I've ever seen."
Cowherd went on to put Clark in the same conversation as Tiger Woods for golf and Michael Jordan for basketball, and even went as far as saying he'd argue "she's the most influential athlete in the last year."
"If you talk about league-changing athletes in America — Tiger (Woods) in golf, Michael Jordan in basketball, Caitlin Clark," Cowherd said. "She's the most influential athlete, man or woman, I'd argue in the last year."
Some of the other athletes who made the Time magazine list of the 100 Most Influential People include Breanna Stewart (WNBA - New York Liberty), Napheesa Collier (WNBA - Minnesota Lynx), Simone Biles (Olympic gymnast), Jalen Hurts (NFL), Serena Williams (retired tennis player), Leon Marchand (Olympic swimmer) and more.
More must-reads: