With New Season About To Start, Is Caitlin Clark Gunning For (Engagement) Ring?

Love is in the air. At least it seems to be in Indianapolis.

And that might be just the kind of positive, nurturing, vibing, Zen-like environment that Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark could use to speed off to a big start in the 2025 WNBA season, which gets underway with preseason action on Saturday.

Last summer, Clark, a rookie, dealt with unprecedented pressures as a transformational superstar. She also was the victim of off-the-charts snipes and nastiness.

SOME WNBA PLAYERS WERE AWFUL TO CLARK IN 2024

You remember it. Who wouldn’t?

Clark was routinely pushed around, knocked down and persistently vilified with cruel and petty comments by other WNBA players, who seemingly couldn’t contain their jealousy and envy.

Caitlin Clark got hit in the eye by WNBA rival DiJonai Carrington. (Credit: Getty Images)

Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter (7) was whistled for a flagrant foul for knocking Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark to the ground on June 1, 2024, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Where was the love? Especially for a player who brought so many new fans and so much new money to the WNBA, a league that hasn’t exactly been a profitable cash cow.

Well, last week on April 24, Clark put some of her own love out there. 

Caitlin Clark showing some love to Iowa Hawkeye fans as she leaves the court after a game against the West Virginia Mountaineers during their second-round match-up in the 2024 NCAA Division 1 Women’s Basketball Championship at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 25, 2024 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)

CAITLIN CLARK IS SHOWING THE LOVE

She shared a post on her Instagram account to toast her boyfriend Connor McCaffery on their anniversary. The two met in college at Iowa and have been dating for several years. McCaffery also played basketball for the Hawkeyes. His coach was his father, Fran. 

WNBA star and former Iowa Hawkeye Caitlin Clark (L) and boyfriend Connor McCaffery attend a Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament second round game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Michigan State Spartans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on March 6, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)

Mr. Clark, I mean, Connor McCaffery, is now an assistant coach for the men’s basketball team at Butler University in Indianapolis, just up the road from Clark.

Caitlin calls Connor her “favorite person.”

Awww. What a cute, happy couple! Good for Clark. I’m sure it was nice for her to have someone to lean on during some of those dark times last season.

Wonder when/if those two will make it official. It’s gotta be weighing on Clark these days. Well, for the last week anyway.

THERE’S MORE LOVE GOING AROUND IN INDY

Clark (competitive in everything else…so why would this be any different?) is now trailing Fever teammate Lexie Hull, who announced her engagement just last week to Will Matthiessen, a 6-foot-6 first baseman for the Altoona Curve, the Double-A affiliate for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Lexie Hull (middle) and Caitlin Clark (right) of the Indiana Fever attend a game between the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on February 11, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)

Hull and Matthiessen have a similar story to Clark and McCaffery. Both were athletes at Stanford.

Here is Hull’s post about her big announcement.

And here is Hull rubbing it in Clark’s face, just days ago: 

OK. Calm down. We know that was all in good fun. But still…

Is Clark’s clock now ticking…loudly?

Maybe by this time next year, Caitlin will have two new rings: a WNBA championship ring, and a big ol’ diamond ring from Connor.

CAITLIN CLARK READY FOR AN EVEN BIGGER 2025

Clark, Hull and the Indiana Fever are better equipped than last season and tip off the preseason portion of the WNBA schedule on Saturday with a 1 p.m. ET tilt against the visiting Washington Mystics at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

The season starts for real two weeks later on Saturday, May 17 when the Fever host archrival Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky at 3 p.m. ET. That game will be broadcast on ABC.

Tickets for the season opener against the Sky are $83 apiece for nosebleed seats and more than $3,400 for courtside seats.

I mean, WOW!!

That’s the power of Clark, who was named the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year after averaging 19.2 points, 8.4 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game.

The box office and the ratings loved Clark in 2024.

Most of the fans did, too.

Sellout crowds were a regular thing for Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever. Here Clark shoots a 3-pointer against the Las Vegas Aces in a game at T-Mobile Arena on July 2, 2024 in Las Vegas.(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

But maybe Caitlin was really only concerned about the love from her “favorite person.”

Ain’t love grand?

Do you think Caitlin Clark will end up with 2 rings soon – a WNBA championship ring and an engagement ring? Which one will she get first? 

And will the other WNBA players around the league play nice this season and finally show Clark some…love? Ya, I don’t think so either. 

Let me know your thoughts: patricia.babcockmcgraw@outkick.com