Caitlin Clark has a statue to commemorate her burgeoning Iowa legacy, though it’s just a butter version for now.
The Iowa State Fair unveiled butter sculptures of Clark — the Hawkeyes’ senior and star player — along with former Iowa State football player Jack Trice and former Northern Iowa quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner that’ll be on display while the fair runs through Aug. 20.
The three sculptures will join the annual butter cow, which has accompanied the fair since 1911 and traditionally weighs around 600 pounds, according to the state fair’s website.
Trice, Iowa State’s first Black athlete, died following a trampling by Minnesota players during a game in 1923.
Warner starred as quarterback for the Iowa Barnstormers in the Arena Football League for three years (1995-97) before embarking on a 12-year NFL career that included two NFL MVP awards, one Super Bowl title and a cameo with the New York Giants in 2004, paving the way for the Eli Manning era.
Last year’s butter sculpture theme centered around the 60th anniversary of the film adaption of “The Music Man.”
It’s not unusual for athletes to have their legacies carved into what the state fair described as “low moisture, pure cream Iowa butter.”
Among those honored with butter statues are gymnast Shawn Johnson (2008) and 15-time major champion Tiger Woods (2005).
Sarah Pratt, who has served as the butter cow designer since 2006, created the three sculptures — with her daughters, Hannah and Grace, serving as her apprentices — and told the University of Northern Iowa website that the Warner sculpture was a challenge because “because he’s been known over many decades by many different fans.”
Pratt told the university’s website that Warner’s statue will require between 250 and 300 pounds of butter, which reflects about half of what the typical butter cow — which the state fair’s website claims could “butter about 19,200 slices of toast and take an average person two lifetimes to consume” — needs, though it’s unclear how many pounds were involved in the construction of Clark’s sculpture.
Her scoring prowess — specifically 3-point shooting — was at the center of the Hawkeyes’ run to the national championship game, where they lost to LSU, 102-85.
Clark, in her third collegiate season, became the first woman to record consecutive 40-point games in the NCAA Tournament.
She averaged 31.8 points per game during March Madness, while connecting on 42.7 percent of 3-pointers.
The Hawkeyes point guard became the first Division I women’s basketball player to top 1,000 points and 300 assists in a season, earning her plenty of national accolades, including the Wooden Award and AP Player of the Year award.
Since Clark wasn’t eligible for the WNBA Draft, with women’s college basketball lacking a “one-and-done” rule and Clark not turning 22 until January 2024.
She’ll return as one of the sport’s top players for the 2023-24 season, alongside LSU’s Angel Reese and Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers.
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