Out of Her ‘Comfort Zone’: SNL Starts Caitlin Clark’s Whirlwind Draft Weekend

Caitlin Clark made her first trip to New York last spring to accept the AAU’s Sullivan Award, ESPN reported. She was only in town for a night, but wanted to see Times Square and grab a slice of pizza.

Her trip to Manhattan this weekend is much more high profile.

Her appearance on Saturday Night Live, in which she politely dragged Weekend Update anchor Michael Che for his lengthy history of jokes about women’s sports, was only the beginning of her jam-packed WNBA Draft weekend.

On Sunday, she wore a dark green suit as she sat for interviews with ESPN and The Today Show. “I don’t get nervous for basketball games,” she told NBC’s Stephanie Gosk about her SNL appearance. “But going in front of a live audience on national television, doing something outside of your comfort zone, is a little scary. My heart was pounding out of my chest.”

On Monday morning, she and fellow likely top draft pick Kamilla Cardoso from South Carolina wore signature WNBA hoodies as they flipped the switch on the Empire State Building, which will be lit orange for tonight’s draft in Brooklyn. Young fans found out Clark was there, and held up their jerseys to the window as they peered inside to see the star. The group of draft invitees made their way to the top for a photo opp. The former Hawkeye smiled next to Angel Reese, two weeks after the “Bayou Barbie” put a crown on the Iowa bench as Clark warmed up.

Monday evening, she’ll walk the orange carpet and take her seat by 7:30 p.m., where shortly after, she’s all but certain to hear her name called first by the Indiana Fever. The team posted a graphic on social media Sunday night to mark 22 hours until the draft, the same number Clark wore at Iowa.