When Caitlin Clark arrived in the WNBA in 2024, she helped propel the league’s popularity to new heights. The Indiana Fever not only filled up arenas, but they also generated some of the highest TV viewership figures throughout the campaign.
While Clark didn’t achieve it alone, she’s often credited as the catalyst that sparked greater interest in women’s basketball, thanks to her body of work in college with the Iowa Hawkeyes. It’s worth noting that the star guard set a new record for the most points in NCAA Division I basketball history (both men’s and women’s) with 3,951 points in her collegiate career.
Naturally, after she arrived, Clark was one of the most-searched athletes in the U.S. In 2024, she ranked No. 7 overall, according to Google Trends data.
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Surprisingly, however, Clark was not even in the top 10 list of the most-searched athletes in the U.S. in 2025. Instead, her Fever teammate Sophie Cunninghamwas the one to make it to the list, landing at seventh as well.
Cunningham talked about landing on the list in the latest episode of her “Show Me Something” podcast with her friend West Wilson.
“I really don’t know how to feel about that. I mean it’s kind of cool, I guess. Like, you’re the only female up there, so that was pretty cool. But there’s like no real feeling towards it,” Cunningham said.
When the conversation pivoted to Clark not being on the list and West admitting that it was “crazy” to see that, Cunningham tried to make sense of what happened.
“Maybe last year she was number one, like this is just this year. She blew up in college,” Cunningham stated.
Perhaps the fact that Clark played just 13 games in 2025 because of a groin injury affected her search volume. However, it is definitely quite intriguing, especially since she played a role in Cunningham’s sudden rise to fame.
To recall, Cunningham surged into popularity after she avenged Clark in a game against the Connecticut Sun last June. During a game, she pulled down Jacy Sheldon by the head after the Sun guard poked Clark in the eye.
Cunningham gained over 300,000 followers on Instagram and saw her TikTok followers jump from 300,000 to 1.2 million.
Related: Angel Reese Named WNBA’s Third-Highest-Paid Player Behind Caitlin Clark, Sabrina Ionescu