Caitlin Clark's early WNBA play will be a tryout for a spot on the U.S. Olympic women's basketball team.
The women's squad for the Paris Games will not be decided until June 1st. Clark, who will miss this month's U.S. training camp, will begin her WNBA career and show the U.S. Women's Basketball Selection Committee whether she deserves a spot in the WNBA. team.
Selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti said she is keeping an eye on it.
“You always want to introduce new players into the pool, whether it's now or in the future,” Rizzotti told The Associated Press. “We are true to the principles of talent, of course position suitability, loyalty and experience. It has to be a combination of work. It will still be unfair for some people.”
Clark was invited to the U.S. training camp in Cleveland, which took place during the Final Four, when she was still competing with Iowa for the national championship. Attendance at the camp was not required to make the team, but it helped the all-time NCAA Division I leading scorer demonstrate to the selection committee that he could compete against the best players in the world. I'm sure. The camp in Cleveland was the last camp the United States held before announcing its lineup.
The team will gather in Phoenix for several days in July, just before the Olympics, to play an exhibition All-Star Game with WNBA players.
The U.S. men's basketball Olympic roster was announced last week.
The U.S. women's team, aiming for its eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal, has a talented pool of guards. The list includes five-time Olympian Diana Taurasi, as well as Chelsea Gray, Ariel Atkins and Jewell Lloyd, who played on the 2021 Tokyo Olympic squad. Also included are Kelsey Plum and Sabrina Ionescu, who both won Olympic gold medals in 3×3. pool.
“When you think about Diana and Chelsea Gray, you want to make sure that when their careers end, they're in the same position as the next generation of guards like Sabrina, Kelsey and Kaitlyn. Our future is set in stone. You feel safe there,” Rizzotti said during the 3×3 match. Training camp last weekend.
Rizzotti will get a first-hand look at Clark when the No. 1 draft pick begins his WNBA career on May 14 in the Connecticut Sun. Rizzotti is Sun's president.
Even if Clark were to make the team, she would not be the first WNBA rookie to be named to the Olympic team. The last person to do it was Brianna Stewart, who joined the team in 2016. The difference was that Stewart had been a member of the national team since her sophomore year, and she had played on the 2014 World Cup squad.
Clark has no senior national team experience, but has played on the U.S. junior team. She won gold medals at the 2019 and 2021 FIBA U19 World Cups and the 2017 FIBA U16 Americas Championship.
There were also reports that Clark could be part of the 3×3 team. But Clark said he is focused on playing on a 5-on-5 team.
“That's where I want to be,” Clark told The Associated Press last week. “3-on-3 is really cool, but I've never done it. But 5-on-5 is a goal and a dream. To play with the best players in the world and to play against the best players in the world. , you couldn't have written a better script.”
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This article has been corrected to show Clark is NCAA Division I's all-time leading scorer.
