- Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark is the top U.S. female rookie in the WNBA.
- Despite being invited to the national team training camp, she will not be competing in the Olympics.
- It is unclear why she was left off this year's Olympic team.
Caitlin Clark, the top U.S. women's basketball recruit, has been left out of the women's Olympic team, according to multiple reports.
The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that Clark, a superstar athlete who just signed an eight-year, $28 million contract with Nike, was left off the 12-man roster for the Paris Olympics in July, with the selection committee likely prioritizing players with more pro experience, the paper said.
The former Iowa Hawkeyes star told The Associated Press in April that playing for the U.S. Olympic 5×5 team is “a goal and a dream. It doesn't get any better than that, playing with the best players in the world and against the best players in the world.”
Clark has not publicly commented on the reports.
The Indiana Fever rookie guard was invited to national team training camp in April but was unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts with the NCAA Tournament, and it is unclear why he was not selected for the Olympic team.
USA Today, citing two veteran U.S. players with decades of experience in women's basketball, reported that the selection committee's decision was driven in part by concerns about how fans would react to Clark being given limited playing time.
“If true, this would be a rare acknowledgment of the real tensions that veteran members of women's basketball have with this multi-million-dollar sensation,” columnist Christine Brennan wrote.
The Wall Street Journal reported that five-time Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi, 41, along with former Olympians Chelsea Gray, Jewel Loyd, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young and two-time WNBA All-Star Sabrina Ionescu will represent the United States in this year's Olympics.
Clark and representatives for the USA women's basketball team did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
