Caitlin Clark Celebrates Her ‘Best Year’ as Boyfriend Connor McCaffery Calls Her a ‘Queen’

Clark’s Instagram post honored both her last year at the University of Iowa and her award-winning rookie year in the WNBA

Caitlin Clark with her Rookie of the Year Award (left); Caitlin Clark and boyfriend Connor McCaffrey (right). Photo: Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty; Caitlin Clark/Instagram

Caitlin Clark has a lot to celebrate — but she’s keeping her eye on the future.

The Indiana Fever point guard, 22, took to Instagram on Dec. 31 to honor her extraordinary 2024. In the caption she wrote, “My fav moments from the best year. Time to make 2025 even better.”

The photos she chose featured her with her Rookie of the Year award, winning the Big Ten championship with Iowa, celebrating with her college teammates, playing with new WNBA teammates like Aliyah Boston, being honored by Time Magazine and spending time with her boyfriend Connor McCaffery.

Caitlin Clark and boyfriend Connor McCaffrey (top); Clark and McCaffrey looking into the Big 10 trophy (bottom).Caitlin Clark/Instagram

McCaffery, 26, commented on the post, writing, “Queen” alongside a heart hand emoji. Kate Martin, Clark’s Iowa teammate who will play for the new WNBA team the Golden State Valkyries in 2025, also commented, writing, “What a year.” Other athletes, including WNBA players Cameron Brink and Sabrina Ionescu and NFL star George Kittle, also left supportive comments.

Clark and McCaffery — a former Iowa basketball player — began dating in 2023. When the couple celebrated their one-year anniversary in April 2024, Clark wrote, “One year of the best mems w my fav person 🖤 you make every day better and I can’t wait for many more adventures together… love you 🤞🏻😇.” McCaffery currently works as a basketball coach at Butler University.

From left: Jada Gyamfi, Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin in the Iowa Hawkeyes locker room.Caitlin Clark/Instagram

In December, the Iowa Hawkeyes announced that they will retire Clark’s No. 22 jersey in February. “I’m forever proud to be a Hawkeye and Iowa holds a special place in my heart that is bigger than just basketball,” Clark said at the time, per a University of Iowa Athletics press release.

“It means the world to me to receive this honor and to celebrate it with my family, friends and alumni. It will be a great feeling to look up in the rafters and see my jersey alongside those that I’ve admired for so long.”

Instagram photos of Caitlin Clark and her Iowa teammates.Caitlin Clark/Instagram

Clark’s 2025 is shaping to be just as exciting, with the next WNBA season beginning this May. In September, Clark — who was the first overall pick in the league’s 2024 draft — and her teammates ended the Fever’s 7-year playoff drought. Even though they lost in the first round, they’re set to come back stronger in the new year.

And Clark is ready for it all. “Personally, I’m just scratching the surface of what I can do and hopefully how I can change the world and impact people,” she told Time in December.