Iowa guard Caitlin Clark greets a fan as she walks off the court after an NCAA college basketball game against Iowa State in Ames last month. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

For the first time since her West Des Moines Dowling days, I saw Caitlin Clark play live earlier this week when the Iowa women faced Michigan State inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Like all basketball fans, I’ve watched plenty of Clark’s games on television as she ascended from blue chip in-state recruit to global basketball sensation over the last four years. Clark was outstanding in high school — a little too advanced in her court vision and understanding of the sport compared to her teammates and opponents — but after watching her play multiple times against Fort Dodge, I never could have predicted any of this. She is nothing short of a phenomenon now.

We decided a while back to make this a family trip, buying tickets for our kids as Christmas presents. I severely underestimated how hard they would be to find — especially for all of us. Every Iowa women’s home game had been sold out for months — I knew that beforehand — but the demand on the secondary market created a very expensive six-ticket package just to get in the door (i.e., the nosebleeds) for a weeknight contest. Weekend dates toward the end of the season are running well over $300 on up per seat.

I started to do the math on this. I looked up Megan Gustafson’s senior year, when the Hawkeyes went 29-7 and reached the Elite Eight in 2018-19. Gustafson was an All-American, and Iowa had a fantastic squad that year. Yet most of the Hawkeyes’ home dates were drawing in the 4-9,000 range for attendance.

Carver-Hawkeye Arena holds 14,998 for women’s games. Given there are 15 home dates in a typical regular season and tickets today range anywhere from 5-10 times face value on up, it could be argued that Clark is either directly or indirectly generating over $15 million in additional revenue this year on game days alone. Probably more.

The buzz is palpable walking up to the CHA doors. Clark jerseys, shirts and memorabilia are everywhere. I’ve been to probably 30 basketball contests in Iowa City dating back to the Tom Davis days of the 1980s. Fans have a much different anticipatory energy for this squad compared to other Hawkeye teams or seasons — only rivaled, I’m sure, by last year’s group. It’s like everyone knows they’re witnessing history in real time, and we could all see something special again — despite Clark having already pieced together a highlight reel of memories to last a lifetime.

I told my kids that CHA definitely used to have an edge that was lost when Davis left. There are a million reasons or excuses for the collective shift in mood, but I think we can all agree it’s not as intimidating for road schools as it was in the 1990s.

I saw — and heard — flashes of the old Carver the other night. When a relentless home crowd becomes suffocating, and shifts visiting teams from executing their gameplans to just weathering the storms, they’ve done their job and then some.

As for the game itself, the Spartans did about as much as they could to “defend” Clark. They were physical with her. They threw multiple looks and players at her. They ran her as much as possible. She was visibly exhausted by the fourth quarter.

Yet Clark seems to have this superhuman gear. Her legs shouldn’t have allowed the accuracy on the 30-foot three-pointer (minimum) she hit at the buzzer to defeat Michigan State and send CHA into a frenzy.

You just have to shake your head and shrug in amazement sometimes. After all, this is what transcendent stars do: they defy logic.

The Clark craze is certainly worth witnessing in person. I gained an even greater appreciation for what she does on the court and the kind of influence she has before and after the games are finished. She’s the iconic rock star. She’s the one you tell your kids and grandkids about someday. And she has injected spirit into an old building that many thought didn’t have any juice left to squeeze.

Carver-Hawkeye Arena isn’t the house that Clark built, but she’s definitely brought it back to life.

Enjoy the ride, Iowa fans. Caitin Clark is lightning in a bottle.

Eric Pratt is Sports Editor at The Messenger. Contact him via email at sports@messengernews.net, or on Twitter @ByEricPratt