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Iowa star Caitlin Clark shatters record for women’s basketball cards
Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark has been making history since she first arrived on campus in Iowa City.
The 2023 Naismith Women’s Player of the Year, Clark is averaging 31.7 points per game for the Hawkeyes and has eclipsed 40 points in a game 10 times in her illustrious career, more than any Division I player in the past 25 years. Clark, who is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the next WNBA draft, has become one of the nation’s most popular and watched players, draining long three-pointers like NBA superstar Steph Curry and leading the Hawkeyes to the NCAA championship game last year.
Now “Sister Splash” is making news off the court, with her 2022 Bowman University Superfractor 1/1 Rookie Auto card, graded PSA 10, shattering the record for women's basketball cards in the January Premier Auction at PWCC Marketplace. The card sold for $78,000 (including buyer’s premium), seven more than the previous high for a women's basketball card.
The previous most expensive women’s basketball card was a 2004 Ultra Platinum Medallion Diana Taurasi card that sold for $11,500. A few months earlier, a 2020 Panini Prizm WNBA Black Gold rookie card of the New York Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu sold for $10,899, the first WNBA card to sell for five figures. According to PWCC, Clark’s 1st Bowan card has also surpassed the two highest private sales of WNBA cards—a 2021 Prizm Ionescu Black PSA 10 and a collection of four 2016 Breanna Stewart PSA 10 rookies.
The value of Clark’s trading cards should continue to rise as she attempts to lead the No. 5 Hawkeyes (18-2) back to the Women’s Final Four. Fanatics and Topps signed the three-time USA Women’s Basketball gold-medal winner to an exclusive trading card and collectibles contract in 2022, ensuring that Clark will continue to have some of the most sought-after cards on the market.
