Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese highlight shining WNBA rookie class

August 05, 2024

A standout 2024 WNBA draft class has already made its mark three months into the season. At the midway point, ahead of Saturday’s All-Star Game, its two biggest stars have set records.

The All-Star Game in Phoenix precedes the Paris Olympics this summer, and signals the start of a month-long league break. It pits the U.S. women’s national team against a WNBA all-star squad that excludes players heading to Paris.

The 2024 draft class was headlined by Caitlin Clark, the top selection by the Indiana Fever, and Angel Reese, the No. 7 pick by the Chicago Sky. Both will play for the WNBA All-Stars.

Saturday’s showcase comes on the heels of another gaudy performance by Clark, who set a WNBA record with 19 assists in a game Wednesday against the Dallas Wings. Clark, the NCAA’s all-time Division I scoring leader, has enjoyed scoring success early on as a pro.

She averages 17.1 points, 8.2 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game. Her points total tops all rookies and her assist rate is the best in the league. She netted a career-high 30 points in games against the Los Angeles Sparks in May and the Washington Mystics in last month’s WNBA Commissioner’s Cup.

She also became the first rookie in WNBA history to record a triple-double, accomplishing the feat earlier this month against the league-leading New York Liberty. She has double-doubles in eight of her last 11 games.

After setting the single-game assist record Wednesday, Clark is 13 away from setting the rookie single-season assist record (225), set by Ticha Penicheiro in 1998. Clark and Penicheiro are the only players in WNBA history to exceed 200 assists in their rookie seasons, and Clark is just the ninth player with at least 400 points and 200 assists in a season — regardless of experience level.

Still, ball security has been an issue, as it was at the end of the Fever’s Wednesday loss to Dallas, where Clark gave the ball away late in a close contest. Her 5.6 turnovers per game are well beyond the next closest player (Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas, with 3.6), though that can partly be attributed to her aggressive playmaking style.

“I think the beginning of the season was probably the most difficult for me. Just the adjustment of, first of all, playing in this league. And then second of all, the schedule that we had, playing a game, having a day off, playing a game,” Clark told reporters on Wednesday. “I think once we really kind of got into a flow and got a few wins under our belt and had a little more practice time, things have settled down and flowed a little better. I feel like my feet are definitely getting under me more and starting to build more and more confidence.”

Caitlin Clark is in a category of her own 👏

With 19 assists in tonight's game, Clark has set a new record for most AST in a single game in WNBA history

Previously, Courtney Vandersloot held the record with 18 AST in a game for the Chicago Sky vs. the Indiana Fever in 2020 pic.twitter.com/dUVzusSBTp

— WNBA (@WNBA) July 18, 2024

Reese, the other rookie sensation, set the NCAA record for most double-doubles in a single season in 2023. She has extended her habit to the professional ranks, where she reset the WNBA-record for consecutive double-doubles with 15 straight. She came up two points short of extending the streak on July 13 against the New York Liberty.

She averages 13.5 points and 11.9 rebounds per game. She sits just behind two-time league MVP A’ja Wilson for the league lead in the latter category — narrowly trailing Wilson’s 12 rebounds per contest.

Where Clark was expected to make a significant impact, Reese has exceeded expectations. At the break, Clark is the front-runner for 2024 Rookie of the Year and Reese sees +650 odds.

“[Winning] is what’s most important to me,” Reese told ESPN earlier this month. “I think I’ve done a great job, being able to be consistent and I’ve broken the record already. So [I want to] be able to just be me and do whatever my teammates need.”

It’s not just Reese who has exceeded rookie expectations.

Forward Rickea Jackson, the fourth overall selection by the Los Angeles Sparks, is the team’s third-leading scorer with 11.4 points per game. Aaliyah Edwards, a reserve forward and the sixth pick by the Washington Mystics, is one of the team’s top rebounders. Kamilla Cardoso, the 6-foot-7 center whom the Sky picked four places ahead of Reese, averages 8.1 points and 7.8 rebounds, and has been a reliable force in the paint. All three have made quality contributions.

Beyond the top picks in April’s draft, others have made an impression.

The Mystics’ Julie Vanloo, a Belgian point guard who entered the league this year at 31, averages 8.4 points and 5.1 assists through 25 games (starting all but four). Vanloo has been a perimeter threat for Washington this season, even before she broke the team’s rookie record for three-pointers made on Sunday (now 52).

Rookie guards Jacy Sheldon (5.3 points and 1.8 assists in 21.5 minutes per game) and Sevgi Uzun (5.4 points and 3.5 assists in 24.3 minutes) have contributed to an — albeit struggling — Dallas team. Jackson, Edwards, Cardoso and Sheldon are currently considered longshots for rookie of the year with +20000 odds.

Some rookies haven’t been as fortunate.

Second overall pick Cameron Brink averaged 7.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and a team-leading 2.3 blocks in 15 starts for the Sparks. But her season ended last month after she suffered an ACL injury against Connecticut.

Kate Martin, Clark’s college teammate at Iowa and a second-round pick by the Las Vegas Aces, has been a surprise contributor off the bench for the defending WNBA champions. She averages 3.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists in just over 14 minutes of action per night. But her return is in question after she slipped late in the first quarter of Tuesday’s game against Chicago and suffered an apparent lower leg injury.

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