


South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley appeared to suggest Team USA’s team selection for the 2024 Olympics could have gone a bit differently regarding Indiana Fever sensation Caitlin Clark if they “had to do it all over again.”
Staley, a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team selection committee, explained that Clark had not been playing to the extremely strong standards she recently has been when player selection was being conducted, and she was passed up as a result. Since joining the Fever, Clark has brought newfound attention and interest in the Women’s National Basketball Association with statistical feats and by drawing record-setting attendance for her games.
“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 said on NBC. “Shooting the ball extremely well, I mean, she is an elite passer, she’s just got a great basketball IQ, and she’s a little more seasoned in the pro-game in a couple months than she was two months ago.”
The WNBA achieved a new record in viewership last month with the game between the Fever and the Atlantic Dream, with 17,575 fans in attendance. Clark’s team went on to win by a score of 91-79, marking their seventh win of the year.
Team USA’s women’s basketball team plays its first game on Monday against Japan; they will then face Belgium on Thursday.
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Staley is a former Olympic athlete. She helped Team USA win gold medals while playing on the women’s basketball team in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and the 2004 Athens Olympics. She also served as Team USA’s coach in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where the team won the gold medal.