{"id":539679,"date":"2026-03-23T02:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T02:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/539679\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T02:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T02:48:09","slug":"indiana-fever-projected-to-draft-kiki-rice-pairing-her-with-caitlin-clark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/539679\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana Fever Projected to Draft Kiki Rice, Pairing Her with Caitlin Clark"},"content":{"rendered":"

Caitlin Clark<\/a> did not have the 2025 WNBA<\/a> season she was hoping for. The Indiana Fever<\/a> guard was limited to just 13 games due to multiple injuries, watching her team secure a 24-20 record and the No. 6 seed in the playoffs. And without Clark, the Fever went on a surprising playoff run, which ended with a Game 5 overtime loss to the Las Vegas Aces<\/a> in the semifinals.<\/p>\n

Now, the Fever have work to do ahead of Clark’s third WNBA season. Entering the offseason, only three Indiana players are under contract, with several key contributors, including Sophie Cunningham<\/a>, Kelsey Mitchell and Lexie Hull, set to become free agents. The Fever also hold the No. 10 pick in the first round of the 2026 WNBA Draft on April 13. And there is one big-time player predicted to join Indiana following her college career.<\/p>\n

\"Indiana<\/p>\n

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22)Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

(Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Kiki Rice was a five-star prospect in the class of 2022, ranking as the best point guard of her class and the second-best overall recruit (ESPN<\/a>). After receiving numerous offers from major programs such as UConn, Stanford and Maryland, Rice elected to join the UCLA Bruins, where she has spent her entire college career.<\/p>\n

Rice became an immediate starter for UCLA during her freshman season in 2022-23 and has held that role ever since. During her senior season in 2025-26, Rice helped lead the Bruins to a 32-1 record and a Big Ten<\/a> title, earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. She is putting together the best season of her college career, averaging career highs of 15.4 points on 50.0% shooting and 6.0 rebounds, along with 4.5 assists per game, earning All-American honors.<\/p>\n

In ClutchPoints’ latest 2026 WNBA mock draft<\/a>, the Fever are projected to select Rice with the No. 10 pick, a move that would pair her with Clark in Indiana’s backcourt.<\/p>\n

“Indiana selects Kiki Rice, a strong, composed guard with leadership qualities,” ClutchPoints’ Jess Koffie wrote. “Rice can control tempo, attack the rim, facilitate offense, and shoot from three, and her well-rounded game makes her a stabilizing presence and a potential long-term starter for the Fever.”<\/p>\n

The Fever will begin the 2026 WNBA season on May 9, facing Paige Bueckers<\/a> and the Dallas Wings.<\/p>\n

Related: Caitlin Clark\u2019s Change in Physical Appearance Draws Attention<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Mar 22, 2026, where it first appeared in the WNBA<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Caitlin Clark did not have the 2025 WNBA season she was hoping for. The Indiana Fever guard was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539680,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[1760,27048,2834,4129,2839,4806,65485,4677,5621,2833,4805,99,434,83943],"class_list":["post-539679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-caitlin-clark","tag-college-career","tag-dallas-wings","tag-fever","tag-indiana-fever","tag-kelsey-mitchell","tag-kiki-rice","tag-las-vegas-aces","tag-lexie-hull","tag-paige-bueckers","tag-sophie-cunningham","tag-sports","tag-wnba","tag-wnba-season"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}