Caitlin Clark hilariously hugs Jake from State Farm before her parents after WNBA draft

MixCollage-16-Apr-2024-11-13-AM-5787.jpg

Caitlin Clark had one person who hugged and congratulated her after being the number one draft pick in the WNBA, Jake from State Farm.

On Monday 15 April, the former Iowa Hawkeyes basketball player showed up to the Brooklyn Academy of Music where she was announced as the number one pick for the Indiana Fever. In a video recently posted to TikTok, after posing with her jersey she is seen walking up to Kevin Miles, the actor known for playing Jake from State Farm.

While hugging him, Clark places a baseball cap on his head as the video is captioned, “Jake? From State Farm? At the WNBA draft?”

“She really saw him before her parents,” text across the screen emphasised.

The clip went on to receive more than four million views with many people leaving comments about how the actor appears to always be everywhere and dressed up in his signature red and khaki pants.

“Jake from State Farm doesn’t get to be anyone else does he,” one comment read.

Another commenter agreed, writing, “Jake from State Farm is literally such a likeable guy he turned into an A list celebrity lol everybody shows him love.”

Throughout the NCAA tournament, the insurance company aired commercials featuring Clark, telling her to “cover greatness” amid her record-breaking season. Although she can no longer partner with State Farm under NIL (name, image, and likeness), the company wanted to send her off with a bang as they put up a billboard in Times Square, New York City, ahead of the draft and sent Jake to personally attend.

“Jake from State Farm is Caitlin’s biggest hype man fr,” one TikTok comment joked.

When she attended the draft, Clark showed up dressed completely in Prada, becoming the first WNBA or NBA player to partner with them.

She specifically wore a Prada double white satin shirt and skirt. The former Iowa Hawkeyes player also unbuttoned her shirt to reveal an embroidered rhinestone mesh tube top underneath. Clark traded in her sneakers for black brushed leather slingback pumps. She accessorised with a black Galleria handbag and acetate sunglasses.

While walking the red carpet before the draft, the basketball player told GQ Sports how much she loves the brand. “I love Prada. I think Prada is very me,” she told the outlet. “Prada’s never dressed a WNBA player or an NBA player for the draft, so it’s very fun.”

Stylist Adri Zgirdea Toth told Marie Claire that she coordinated Clark’s look.

“Dressing an athlete for the draft is a first for Prada, and this is obviously a first for Caitlin, too. Both are at the forefront of what they do – it’s almost too perfect,” Toth said.

During her last season playing college basketball for Iowa, Clark was known for creating an increase in viewers watching women’s basketball games. As noted by the NCAA, the 2023 national championship game, which saw the Hawkeyes play against LSU’s Tigers, had an average of nearly 10 million viewers, which was a 103 per cent increase from the 2022 women’s championship.

NCAA also reported that when one of Hawkeye’s games went into overtime, before Ohio State’s loss, there were an average of 1.93m viewers watching the game across NBC and Peacock. In addition, the game saw a peak in viewership during overtime, with 3.9m viewers across those networks.

From news to politics, travel to sport, culture to climate – The Independent has a host of free newsletters to suit your interests. To find the stories you want to read, and more, in your inbox, click here.