Clark to get chance at Olympic team
Iowa star missed camp due to conflict with Final Four
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Caitlin Clark’s early play in WNBA will serve as her tryout for a spot on the U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team.
The women’s roster for the Paris Games won’t be determined before June 1. Unable to attend the U.S. training camp this month, Clark will have the start of her WNBA career to show the U.S. women’s basketball selection committee whether she deserves a spot on the team.
Selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti said she’ll be watching.
“You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it’s for now or the future,” Rizzotti said. “We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It’s got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It’s still not going to be fair to some people.”
Clark was invited to attend the U.S. training camp in Cleveland, but it was held during the Final Four when she was still competing for a national championship with Iowa. Attending the camp wasn’t mandatory to make the team, but it certainly would have helped the NCAA Division I all-time scoring leader show the selection committee she could hold her own against some of the best players in the world. The camp in Cleveland was the last one the U.S. had before announcing its roster.
The team will get together in Phoenix for a few days in July right before the Olympics, including playing an exhibition All-star game against WNBA players.
The U.S men’s basketball Olympic roster was announced last week.
The American women, who are trying for an eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal, have a talented group of guards in the pool. The list includes Aces Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray, Diana Taurasi, Ariel Atkins, Jewell Loyd and Sabrina Ionescu.
“Thinking about Diana and Chelsea Gray and when their careers are done, you want to make sure you’re in a position with these upcoming guards with Sabrina, Kelsey and Caitlin that you feel good that our future is set,” Rizzotti said.
Rizzotti will get a first-hand look at Clark when the No. 1 pick in the draft opens her WNBA career at the Connecticut Sun on May 14. Rizzotti is the president of the Sun.
If Clark makes the team, she wouldn’t be the first WNBA rookie to be on an Olympic squad. Breanna Stewart was the last one to do it in 2016. The difference was that Stewart had been part of the national team since she was a sophomore in college.