IOWA CITY − With consistent smiles, her trademark confidence and a blend of her typical humor, Caitlin Clark got ready to play a basketball game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
It seems like forever ago since she last played here – even though it’s only been 13½ months, since Iowa outlasted West Virginia in a second-round NCAA Tournament game in late March of 2024.
Now, Clark was set to play as a second-year Indiana Fever guard before a sold-out crowd at Carver-Hawkeye with an ESPN national audience watching her team’s May 4 exhibition game against the Brazil National Team. Indiana opens the regular season May 17 against the Chicago Sky, so this was a tune-up – and Clark’s first exhibition after she sat out the day before against the Washington Mystics.
What did she have in store for her adoring fans at Iowa, where she made four years of memories including two national title-game runs?
“I certainly give the fans something to cheer about. That’s my goal. Get them involved. Get them loud,” Clark said. “Because, I told my teammates, it’s going to be the loudest arena you’ve ever played in. So, I’ve got to make a few shots and be able to get them on their feet.”
Here are some other topics Clark addressed in her pregame media availability.
What Clark said about the growing Indiana Fever fan base
“One of the best parts about the fan base is it’s not a one player thing. It was the same thing during my time at Iowa. You go down the roster, and they loved every single girl on the team, whether they played 40 minutes a night or whether they never got in the game.”
What Clark said about facing the Brazil National Team
“This is an opportunity for us to really work on ourselves and build chemistry and get better.”
What Clark said about her expected playing time
“I just love to compete at the end of the day. This is a building that I’m very comfortable playing in, a fan base I love playing in front of.”
“A lot of those games were high-intensity games, I was playing 40 minutes. I won’t be playing 40 minutes, shockingly. As a competitor, those are the moments you live for, when the spotlight’s on.”
What Clark said about her new team and coach Stephanie White
“Some of the things we do defensively is completely different than how they were taught last year. And that’s not a bad thing by any means. It’s just you have to break some habits, and that’s going to take some time. … So, I think it’s just continuing to build chemistry, trying to get lineups on the floor, different lineups on the floor that work.”
What Clark said about her offseason strength program
(Of note, this was her first full professional offseason after going straight from college to the WNBA last April)
“I think just consistency, that’s what it was for me. Like I hadn’t had six or seven months to just be consistent in everything that I did, whether that was on court skill development, whether that was how I ate, whether (it was) being in the weight room.
“I think that has led me to look a little bigger. We’ll see if it helps, I don’t know, that remains to be seen. But it’s worked in our workouts so far. But I think just from a stamina standpoint … it’s going to help me feel better by game 40 to 44 and then the playoffs, the most important time of the year. It’s physical, refs tend to swallow their whistle.”
Clark on when she noticed Carver-Hawkeye first really come to life
“I would probably say my sophomore year, when we played Michigan, was our first sellout. We’re playing for the Big Ten regular-season title. … Nobody really expected us to win the Big Ten that year.
“I think that was probably the real first point. I was like, ‘Wow, this is special,’ and I still have two more years to be here and enjoy this. And we certainly, every year, elevated it and elevated it, even when I didn’t know if we could continue to do that with how much success we had and how great our fans were. But they continued to show up.”
Clark on the pressure of her second season in the WNBA
“Somehow it feels like the pressure is always taken to another level and another level. But I always remind myself, it’s not a moment I haven’t been in before. I understand the expectations, I understand the pressure, and … I wouldn’t want that any other way. I like to embrace that. There’s going to be nights that are great. There’s going to be nights that you struggle a little bit. It’s just how you respond.”
“You live your life completely different than you were in college, like you’re a pro. You have to take care of yourself, you have to watch film. You have to get in and do treatment, whatever it is. So I think that was the biggest adjustment in Year 1. … But really more than anything, just embracing it.”
