Dawn Staley speaking during interview (left). Caitlin Clark looking on (right).Dawn Staley and Caitlin Clark (Photos via Twitter and Getty Images)


South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley made an interesting admission about Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark, who was controversially snubbed from the US women’s Olympic basketball team.

Caitlin Clark is in the middle of a historic WNBA rookie season, averaging 17.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game. At this rate, the 22-year-old will run away with WNBA Rookie of the Year honors.

Staley, who coached the women’s basketball team to gold in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, is part of the Team USA selection committee. NBC’s Mike Tirico asked Staley about Clark’s snubbing, to which she admitted that Clark would have been strongly considered if they could redo the selection process:

“If we had to do it all over again, the way that she’s playing, she would be in really high consideration of making the team because she is playing head and shoulders above a lot of people.”

Staley also praised Clark’s shooting, “elite” passing and high basketball IQ.

 

The Fever drafted Caitlin Clark first overall after following her historic NCAA career with the Iowa Hawkeyes. The all-time NCAA basketball Division I leading scorer led Iowa to consecutive national championship game appearances in 2023 and 2024, where they lost to LSU and Staley’s Gamecocks, respectively.

The United States women’s Olympic basketball team will open group play against Japan at Pierre Mauroy Stadium. They will then face Belgium on Thursday before wrapping up group play against Germany on Sunday.

Caitlin Clark Has Fever In A Playoff Spot At The Break

The Fever haven’t made the postseason since 2016, and they haven’t won a playoff series since 2015. On top of that, they have only finished above .500 once since 2013 (20-14 in 2015).

But Caitlin Clark has the Fever surging following a tough 2-9 start to the season. They won three of their final four games before the Olympic break, including a home victory over the league-leading New York Liberty and a road victory against the third-seeded Minnesota Lynx.

At the break, Indiana is the No. 7 seed with a record of 11-15. They are three games up on the ninth-seeded Atlanta Dream.