Caitlin Clark has turned her focus back to basketball amid her rapid rise to fame over the past two years, as training camp is now open for the WNBA’s Indiana Fever.
As a new member of the team, Clark is learning how she will fit into a new offensive system, building chemistry with her new teammates and learning the nuances of what it means to be the league’s hottest rookie.
Of course, Clark expects some struggles this season; she expected no less. But giving her full attention to the sport she loves is truly all Clark has ever wanted.
“I think that’s what I was most excited about, getting all that stuff out of the way,” the former Iowa star said on the first day of Indiana training camp Sunday. “The draft was amazing, New York was amazing, Los Angeles was amazing, but I was excited to get here and start playing basketball again, you know, doing my job.”
Over the past two seasons, these WNBA rookies have created the kind of buzz around women’s basketball that most fans dreamed of, and Clark is unquestionably at the top of the class.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, 22, got her first taste of the team’s training camp on Sunday
She was excited to return to basketball after a busy month that saw her travel and get drafted.
Clark (center left) practices with teammates including Erica Wheeler (center) in Indianapolis
The former Iowa guard has been participating in scrimmages as she prepares to meet the demands of the WNBA.
Ticket sales increased at every venue she appeared at, and when Clark’s matches were televised, ratings soared. Her quest for the Division I career scoring record captivated basketball fans across America and she even appeared on “Saturday Night Live.”
Perhaps even more fitting is that the transition from established stars to newcomers such as Clark officially began on the same day that another pioneering artist, Candace Parker, announced her retirement.
But, like Parker, Clark enters this season with one main goal: winning games.
“I think whatever happens, there’s going to be expectations and pressure on my shoulders and pressure on this team to be really good. That’s the way you want it,” Clark said . “We wouldn’t want anything else. We want people to come to our games, expect us to win a lot of basketball games this year and expect me to play really well. I don’t think it’s anything that’s ever been different for me.
This kind of talk is certainly new for the Fever.
Indiana hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2016, hasn’t had a winning season since 2015, and has been virtually irrelevant nationally since Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings retired. fame. Over the past five seasons, the Fever have won 28 games.
Iowa, meanwhile, went 65-12 and twice finished as national runner-up in Clark’s final two college seasons.
But the duo of Clark and Aliyah Boston, the unanimous WNBA Rookie of the Year last season, made Indiana one of the hottest tickets in the league.
Several opponents have already moved their games to larger arenas and Boston, for its part, is eager to see how quickly Indiana’s new roster will integrate. Clark arrived in town early last week and has been turning heads with her workouts ever since.
“I think Caitlin has a different eye for the game. You can see how well she passes the ball and how well she shoots it,” Boston said. “You see her communicate, you see the way she can find you, I mean, her passes are great. I’m like “OK, I’ll try, just let me go” just because of the way she pulls it off.
Clark’s transition from college to pro could also accelerate.
For most of the two and a half hours of practice open to the media, Clark worked with Indiana’s starters and, true to form, Clark lined up one 3-pointer after another, including some of these logos 3 brand.
The Fever will look to thrive with the backcourt duo of Clark and Aliyah Boston (right)
Yet it was Clark’s crisp passing that surprised his teammates and even second-year coach Christie Sides.
“His ability to space the floor for us is just incredible,” Sides said. “We’re going to have five players on the floor that can shoot, but her passing ability – you saw some of the passes she made. I’m even more angry about the number of missed layups we missed. I think we’re just not used to having someone who can make those passes.
Clark can and will do them, and how the Fever responds to his presence will largely dictate Indiana’s success this season.
But the key for Clark will be to quickly acclimate to a new team, a new home and a new style of play between now and the preseason opener Friday in Dallas.
“It’s definitely different, but it’s what you expect when you start a new chapter in your life,” she said. “It’s a quick, fast shot clock, but I think you all know that’s how I like to play. So I think it suits my game pretty well. It’s a fast pace, much faster than university and you have to learn faster because you have to think on Friday.
