When Caitlin Clark was still a multi-sport athlete running around with players bigger than her in third grade, she had a dream. Twelve, to be exact. The number one was to become a WNBA player, which she has already achieved. But the rest of the list, which ESPN shared earlier this year when Iowa fought West Virginia in the NCAA tournament, is still a lofty bucket list. However, there is one thing she still hopes can come true.

Speaking at the LPGA’s Women’s Leadership Summit before playing the pro-am The ANNIKA tomorrow, Clark was asked about the famous list. At first declaring, “The media just makes up anything they want!” with a laugh, the Indiana Fever guard looked back at the time with nostalgia in her voice. “It’s cool looking back. And honestly, I’m thankful for my mom for saving that type of stuff, it kinda paid off.”

Relating how her parents always put her in every sport they could in childhood, the Iowa sensation revealed that she was always trying out new things. Some of those ‘Future Dreams’ on her list had included, “to live in a huge mansion, to have three or four kids, to get married, to own a restaurant, to win the lottery, to be in a basketball movie, to be strong, to go (to college) on a basketball scholarship, to travel, travel across the whole world and to meet Maya Moore.”

And it’s the lottery she’s holding out hope for! “I know I wrote on that paper to win the lottery so my fingers are still crossed for the lottery.” Well, what kid doesn’t want to win the lottery?! But did CC mean getting lucky with money or the WNBA Draft? Who knows! Either way, Clark looked back on that time with fondness.

She continued, “But it’s just cool looking back and I grew up playing sports with the boys. And I always had this dream of doing something really special and my parents, they never held me back. They never told me ‘You can’t do that, you can’t do this.’ They let me go and try and I failed plenty of times and there’s a lot of days I was upset. But I guess that’s what’s made success a thing, when I accomplish things, that much better.”

The reigning Rookie of the Year’s success has truly been unprecedented. A generational talent, Clark was always athletic and good at multiple sports growing up. But choosing basketball when she was not only great at it but taking time in her day to work to be the best at it anyway is what set her apart.

“So I’m really just fortunate and I’ve always kind of been driven in that way and I feel like you always have some goals that you wanna achieve and the things I get to do now have probably exceeded anything I ever dreamed of so I’m very lucky,” Clark said at the event.

And while her success may have come as a surprise to some, one former teacher from Des Moines says she always knew her student was destined for greatness.

“Definitely knew that she was going to be successful”: Caitlin Clark’s 6th grade teacher

The ‘Future Dreams’ list was written in third grade at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School, assigned by Kathleen Drey. When asked, she said she remembered assigning this project, but not what Caitlin Clark had written, not until ESPN showed it. Then her 6th grade teacher, Jill Westholm revealed how CC was always competitive and trying to be the best at whatever she did.

“You never dream that she’s going to take it to this level. But her drive and her passion? You definitely knew that she was going to be successful at whatever she chose to do,” said Westholm. “We always want our students to try their best, right? Just do your best, but she wanted to be the best. Not just her best, she wanted to be the best. Always, in everything she did.”

Well, No. 22 certainly accomplished that! Women’s basketball has never seen anything like her, and if her high school soccer stats are to be believed, she almost joined the National Women’s Soccer League. Caitlin Clark would have outshone everyone there too, but luckily for basketball fans, she knew her future lay in hooping!