Caitlin Clark’s star has risen so high that ESPN is dispatching a reporter to Iowa City to chronicle her every move during the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Holly Rowe, a 2023 Naismith Hall of Fame Curt Gowdy Media Award recipient, is heading to Iowa City to cover Iowa’s opening game (and second-round matchup barring a historic upset). She will embed with the Clark crew. ESPN will formally announce Rowe’s tournament role on Sunday.

“We have had a presence on the ground covering the special moments with Caitlin this year, and I have been at every one of her games where she set a record,” Rowe said Saturday. “I see it as an extension of the dedicated coverage we have had with Caitlin all year. I think there is an intrigue and appetite for all things Caitlin.”

“(Holly) has been on the Caitlin Clark beat, if you will, tracking and following her and being present with her when she broke records earlier in the year,” said Sara Gaiero, an ESPN vice president of production who is responsible for strategic oversight and management of ESPN’s coverage of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. “That level of coverage is needed and necessary and warranted this year. It’s not something we’ve done for the previous first and second rounds for a specific player.”

Gaiero said Rowe will be available to SportsCenter and other ESPN entities that request her during the opening rounds. She’ll report on Iowa’s practices and other things around the game. Another example of the Clark effect: For Iowa’s opening-round NCAA games, Rowe will serve as the traditional sideline reporter. That’s currently the only game right now, Gaiero said, for the first and second round that has a sideline reporter. (ESPN will staff all games with sideline reporters after the second round.)