Getty Caitlin Clark make her training camp debut on Sunday.
Caitlin Clark took the floor in her first training camp with the Indiana Fever on Sunday as the rookie superstar’s pro career commences.
Women’s basketball reporter Taila Goodman shared video clips of Clark’s first day of practice on Sunday morning. One video shows Clark taking a pass for a three-pointer off a screen during a drill. The other features Clark dishing the ball for a basket on the close end followed by another three-pointer.
Caitlin Clark training camp action.
Caitlin Clark’s first day of @IndianaFever training camp.
The No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft on April 15, Clark has taken the nation by storm with her basketball skills. Clark became the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer for men and women at Iowa this year, and her second Final Four run with the Hawkeyes drew record viewership.
Her superstardom only continued with the draft and her record jersey sales until Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams eclipsed it in the NFL Draft a week later. Clark’s many public appearances from “Saturday Night Live” to an Indiana Pacers playoff game captured the nation’s attention.
Now, she can focus on basketball, the sport she’s had passion for since an early age. Clark shared with the “TODAY” show about how she wrote two goals for herself in elementary school — “get a basketball scholarship and play in the WNBA.”
“That’s what I’m excited for. Like, it’s a new chapter. That’s what I was ready for, and making this home, I expect a lot of Iowa fans to become Indiana Fever fans,” Clark said in a Fever media video. “They support women’s basketball so well. I know a lot of them will be in the stands this summer cheering us on.”
Caitlin Clark: ‘I Try to Remind Myself How Grateful I am’
Caitlin Clark for 3:
As Clark begins her pro career, she’s kept things in perspective.
“The biggest thing I try to remember is how grateful I am to have this opportunity,” Clark said in her introductory press conference on April 17. “There are so many people who would kill to be in my shoes. When things seem like they’re long and they’re tiring, and I have to do this, I have to do that, I try to remind myself how grateful I am.”
“I’m lucky to have these moments, and it can all be taken away from you in a second. So just enjoy every single second of it, give it my best, and I think that will go well for me,” Clark added.
Caitlin Clark: ‘I Allow Myself a Little Grace’
Clark is known as an ultra-competitive player, and she admits she’s a perfectionist. However, she knows that a perfect first season in the WNBA isn’t necessarily around the corner.
“For me, I just have fun playing basketball,” Clark said. “I know this is a team sport, it’s not all about me. When I’ve been able to understand that, it’s allowed me to play my best. I think it’s just using your resources, asking questions.”
“Not everything is going to be perfect. … I’m a perfectionist, but I’m at my best when I allow myself a little grace and not expecting everything to go how it should. At the same time, that’s what allowed me to be so great,” Clark added.