As the U.S. women’s basketball team prepares to make their Paris 2024 debut on Monday, a prominent selection committee member has admitted that Caitlin Clark’s recent form may have warranted a place at the Olympics, told Fox News.
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, who also won three Olympic golds with the U.S. as a player, acknowledged that the Indiana Fever rookie had improved significantly as the WNBA season progressed.
“As a committee member, you’re charged with putting together the best team of players, the best talent,” Staley told NBC’s Mike Tirico. “Caitlin is just a rookie in the WNBA, wasn’t playing bad, but wasn’t playing like she’s playing now. If we had to do it all over again, the way that she’s playing, she would be in really high consideration of making the team because she is playing head and shoulders above a lot of people.”
Staley continued, “Shooting the ball extremely well, I mean she is an elite passer, she’s just got a great basketball IQ and she’s a little more seasoned in the pro game in a couple of months than she was two months ago.”
Clark entered the WNBA to great fanfare after a record-breaking college career at Iowa and initially struggled on a mediocre Fever team. However, her performance improved significantly in June and July, propelling Indiana, the worst team in the league for the last few seasons, to third in the Eastern Conference. Clark also leads the WNBA in assists per game, and her 19 assists in a loss to the Dallas Wings earlier this month set a league record for a single game.
Despite her impressive stats, Clark also leads the league in turnovers, and the U.S. Olympic team is packed with seasoned pros with multiple WNBA All-Star appearances. Thus, it was not a surprise when she was left off the Olympic team when the roster was chosen in June. The decision led to a significant amount of racist, sexist, and homophobic comments online from people claiming to defend Clark, who is white, in a league where the majority of players are Black and many are gay.
Clark later addressed the prejudice online from those claiming to be her fans. “People should not be using my name to push those agendas. It’s disappointing. It’s not acceptable,” Clark said. “Treating every single woman in this league with the same amount of respect, I think, it’s just a basic human thing that everybody should do.”
At 22, Clark is almost certain to have her chance at the Olympics in the future. She is part of a sparkling WNBA rookie class that includes other young American stars such as Angel Reese and Cameron Brink. She will also likely play on a winning team: the U.S. is looking for their eighth straight Olympic title in Paris, are unbeaten in 55 games at the Olympics dating back to Barcelona in 1992, and there are few signs their reign will end anytime soon.
The Americans open their Olympic campaign against Japan on Monday night. The two teams met in the gold medal match at the last Olympics, with the U.S. winning 90-75.
Dawn Staley, a member of the USWNT selection committee, asked about Caitlin Clark.
— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) July 28, 2024
“If we had to do it all over again, the way that she’s playing, she would be in really high consideration of making the team because she is playing head and shoulders above a lot of people.” pic.twitter.com/hMYqTsPWzc