As Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes prepare to face the Colorado Buffaloes in the Sweet 16 round of the women’s NCAA tournament on Saturday, news broke of another lucrative offer for the superstar.
TMZ Sports first reported that Big3 co-founder Ice Cube has offered Clark $5 million to compete in the 8-game, regular season, which could include an additional two playoff games.
Ice Cube then posted to X, confirming the offer after the story published:
“We intended the offer to remain private while Caitlin Clark plays for the championship. But I won’t deny what’s now already out there: BIG3 made a historic offer to Caitlin Clark. Why wouldn’t we? Caitlin is a generational athlete who can achieve tremendous success in the BIG3.”
He continued in a thread of posts:
“The skeptics laughed when we made Nancy Lieberman the first female coach of a men’s pro team, and she won the championship in her first year. Then Lisa Leslie won it all in year two. With our offer, Caitlin Clark can make history and break down even more barriers for women athletes.
America’s women athletes should not be forced to spend their off seasons playing in often dismal and dubious foreign countries just to make ends meet.
And they should have more than just one professional option in the US at a time when American pro sports leagues are being infiltrated by autocratic, anti-women regimes such as Qatar. Our pathbreaking offer to Caitlin Clark demonstrates that BIG3 now offers another choice for athletes.”
Clark and the Hawkeyes have drawn historic viewership numbers in the first two contests of the women’s NCAA tournament. Their win over Holy Cross was the most-watched, first round game in the women’s tournament, averaging 3.23 million viewers on ABC, according to Nielsen. Those numbers increased in a second-round victory over West Virginia on ESPN, averaging 4.9 million viewers.
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Joey Chandler may be reached at jchandler@njadvancemedia.com