Another ex-Iowa star glowing in Chicago
Standout Hawkeye women's cager protecting and serving with little hoopla
There's quite a buzz about how little University of Iowa collegiate basketball superstar Caitlin Clark is being paid in her rookie WNBA contract for all the attention she's brought to the women's game and compared to her male counterparts in the NBA.
She'll make $76,535 in the first of a four-year deal with the Indiana Fever — less than a third of the lowest-paid NBA player.
Just for a little additional perspective...one of Caitlin Clark's predecessors at Iowa, 1993 consensus All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year Toni Foster, is making $125,580 a year.
But not on the basketball court.
She’s earning that salary as a Chicago police detective, after 17 years on the force, according to the city salary list, which is online and a matter of public record.
Toni was a charter WNBA player for the Phoenix Mercury and, at forward, helped lead the Hawkeyes to three Big Ten titles and the first women's Final Four appearance in school history under legendary Coach C. Vivian Stringer in 1993. It was Iowa’s only Final Four appearance until Coach Lisa Bluder led the Hawks to the national championship game each of the past two seasons.
Toni achieved consensus All-America status alongside another legend, Sheryl Swopes of Texas Tech. She was a consensus All-Big Ten first team selection for three years.
The WNBA began play four years after Toni's graduation; she played in Europe until then. She played in the WNBA three seasons.
I'm sure Detective Foster is earning every penny of her salary and then some. NIL packages were undreamed of during her days in college. In fact, such compensation was barred by the NCAA prior to 2021.
She was inducted into the University of Iowa athletics hall of fame in 2016. Already a veteran police officer, she told sportswriter Rick Brown at that time on hawkeyesports.com that her goal was to make detective.
Brown reported that Detective Foster grew up on the west side of Chicago. After her basketball career was over, she taught fifth grade in Chicago for six years before joining the police force.
Toni also was a Ms. Illinois Basketball and an academic standout her senior year at John Marshall High School in Chicago, enroute a 1989 Class AA state championship.
For my money --and theirs -- Detective Foster is every bit an inspiration as Ms. Clark and with considerably less spotlight, making a difference in people's lives.
Pat Kinney is a freelance writer and former longtime news staffer with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier and, prior to that, several years at the Ames Tribune. He is currently an oral historian with the Grout Museum District in Waterloo. His “View from the Cedar Valley” column is part of “Iowa Writers Collaborative,” a collection of news and opinion writers from around the state who previously and currently work with a host of Iowa newspapers, news organizations and other publications. Click on their links below to sample their work.
The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative
Pat, this is so, so good, and so inspirational. Perhaps the most important point is how so many of our great athletes go above and beyond to contribute to their communities after their athletic careers are over. That, after all, is what sports and all other extracurricular activities are about--creating leaders and good citizens who help make our communities even better.
Great update!