Getty Caitlin Clark's jersey sales got eclipsed by Caleb Williams' this week.
Caitlin Clark may not have to take on Cooper DeJean, but she couldn’t beat out Caleb Williams.
The WNBA and Indiana Fever rookie superstar’s jersey sales hit Fanatics records according to CEO Michael Rubin via The Sporting Tribune. That only lasted a week as Williams’ jersey sales soared to a new Fanatics record after the Chicago Bears took him No. 1 in the NFL Draft on Thursday according to Field Level Media.
Williams has drawn Patrick Mahomes comparisons amid a dominant career at USC. The 2022 Heisman Trophy winner is both a dynamic passer and runner.
While Clark has captured the nation’s attention as pin-point passer and the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer at Iowa, DeJean, a Philadelphia Eagles draft pick didn’t shy away from hoops challenge with Clark. A recent Iowa Hawkeyes football standout, DeJean said he received lots of questions about Clark during the pre-draft process.
“I wouldn’t say it’s really weird but a lot of teams have asked me if I could beat Caitlin Clark one-on-one, just being from Iowa. I said I think I can,” DeJean, 21, told Yahoo Sports. “She’d probably score a few buckets on me but I think I could pull it off.”
DeJean did well in high school basketball at Odebolta, Iowa, where he scored 1,832 points in his career. That’s better than Iowa native and Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes but less than Minnesota Vikings tight end and fellow Iowa native T.J. Hockenson.
Caitlin Clark Would Have Her Hands Full vs. Cooper DeJean
Clark, 6-foot-0 and 155 pounds, would have a challenge on her hands in DeJean, who is 6-foot-1, 203 pounds. As Out Kick’s David Hookstead pointed out, DeJean would have the upper hand on physicality.
“Cooper DeJean was a DOMINANT high school basketball player with a nearly 40″ vertical. He would crush Caitlin Clark,” Hookstead wrote. “Absolutely destroy her. Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t understand sports.”
If DeJean hadn’t gone to the college gridiron, he would have taken to the court instead. Iowa recruiting director Tyler Barnes liked what he saw via 2021 video highlight clip.
“Good size, rocked-up guy,” Iowa recruiting director Tyler Barnes told The Athletic 2021. “I think he had four or five dunks in that game, one of which he dunked over two guys. One was about 6-5. To see a quiet kid like that, once he jumped on the basketball court, his switch flipped. To see him operate the way he did, I was texting everybody on staff, ‘This kid is an absolute no-brainer.’”
Caitlin Clark to Make Instant Impact
Clark won’t have to worry about going up against the likes of DeJean in the WNBA, and she’s expected to make an instant impact. It’s much needed for the Fever amid seven-straight losing seasons.
“I’m a real big fan of what she’s already been able to accomplish in the spotlight,” Fever general manager Lin Dunn said in a press conference after the April 15 draft. “And I also think that she’s going to adjust to the pros better than people think.”
“Everybody wondered if Aliyah Boston would and look what she did,” Dunn added. “Aliyah had good strength when she came in. She came from an outstanding program. She was smart. She had great work ethic. And Clark has all of that, too.