Iowa star Clark to enter WNBA Draft
Iowa's Caitlin Clark, who is on the verge of becoming the all-time NCAA scoring leader in college basketball, announced Thursday that she will leave the Hawkeyes after this season and enter the WNBA Draft.
“While this season is far from over and we have a lot more goals to achieve, it will be my last one at Iowa,” Clark wrote in a post on the X social media platform. She thanked her teammates, coaches and the thousands of fans who have packed arenas across the country to watch her and the sixth-ranked Hawkeyes.
Clark emerged as a focal point for women's basketball, with her flashy play and 3-point shot, often from the on-court logo. Many players would have been benched for shooting from so far out, but Clark had the green light from her coach and she has delivered while also finding her teammates and hitting the boards.
The guard, with one more year of eligibility, became the all-time leading women's scorer in major college basketball by scoring 33 points to pass Lynette Woodard and post her 17th career triple-double in a 108-60 victory over Minnesota on Wednesday.
MLB
PHILLIES SCRAPPING $1 HOT DOG NIGHTS >> For more than a quarter-century, Phillies fans considered dollar hot dog night among the best ballpark promotions — but the team has now decided it was the wurst.
Those dog days of April — when the Philly weather is cold and the wieners are a steal — are going, going, gone.
The Phillies officially ended the popular promotion Thursday and replaced dollar dogs on select dates with a 2-for-1 deal at two April games at Citizens Bank Park.
Armed with projectile frankfurters, some unruly Phillies fans began chucking their favorite Hatfield meat during a game last year, and the dogs soared like cans of corn throughout the stands and onto the field.
SON OF BLUE JAYS' SWANSON OUT OF INTENSIVE CARE >> Toronto Blue Jays reliever Erik Swanson's son Toby has been discharged from the pediatric intensive care unit.
The 4-year-old boy was hit by a car Sunday in Clearwater and was airlifted in critical condition to Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg.
Baseball star Shohei Ohtani has stunningly revealed he's married.
Ohtani wrote on Thursday on Instagram in Japanese: “The season is approaching but I would like to announce to everyone that I have gotten married.”
He said his new wife was a “Japanese woman” without identifying her. He said he would reveal more in an interview; presumably at the Los Angeles Dodgers spring training venue.
The 29-year-old Ohtani is Japan's biggest celebrity, and there has always been curiosity around his personal life, which he has always kept very private. His focus, and his image, has always been 100%-baseball focused — free of scandals or tabloid news.
Golf
RAMEY, KIM SHOOT 64 >> Chad Ramey's first two trips to PGA National as a professional were largely forgettable. He might have a chance to change that this week.
Ramey shot a bogeyfree round of 7-under 64 in the opening round of the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, tying S.H. Kim for the 18-hole lead. Kim had an eagle and five birdies, including one on the finishing hole, to pull into the tie atop the leaderboard.
A group of five players — Cameron Young, Ryan Moore, Chesson Hadley, Austin Eckroat and Andrew Novak — all played in the morning wave and finished one stroke back with 6-under rounds of 65.