Caitlin Clark.LAPRESSE

For all of the things Caitlin Clark can and can’t do on a basketball court, and indeed off it, there are two burning questions which remain: Why does she wear the number 22? Has she ever had a different number?

As the overall first pick of the 2024 WNBA Draft, and as the star of the NCAA where she made two national championship finals, the Indiana Fever‘s ace is under a lot of pressure and attention and that includes her jersey number, although the explanation is very simple really.

Caitlin Clark and Cameron Brink arrive in style at the Indiana Fever vs. Los Angeles Sparks game

“Honestly I’m not a very creative person,” Clark told reporters during the Final Four of March Madness. “I was born on Jan. 22, so it’s what I went with when I was about 5 years old.”

It’s her signature number, much like the number seven for Cristiano Ronaldo in soccer, and she has rarely deviated from it. But we use rarely for a reason as on two occasions she has had to pick another number.

She had to don the number 11 for Dowling Catholic High School and the number six for the United States National Team, but other than that she’s set on 22.

Clark’s legacy with the 22

As she plied her trade through the NCAA, she became more and more skilled and more and more revered, going on to smash the women’s points scoring record in 2024 before going one better to break Pete Maravich‘s record too.

She catapulted the Iowa Hawkeyes to the front of the women’s college basketball scene with sold out arenas and lots of television coverage to see her shoot trademark “logo threes”, and although she didn’t manage to bring the championship home, she will be remembered.

“We always knew your jersey would be hanging in the rafters,” Iowa athletic director Beth Goetz said to Clark during an end of season ceremony. “It is a privilege for me to now make that official. You will be the last to wear No. 22.”