What Caitlin Clark’s teammates, coaches say about her. ‘She just loves the game.’
She will join a core of Aliyah Boston, NaLyssa Smith and Kelsey Mitchell, along with second-year coach Christie Sides.
Schematically, Clark will fit right into Indiana’s starting lineup. But what can Fever fans expect out of her personality?
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Here’s what Clark’s Iowa teammates and coaches have said about her mentality, competitiveness and how she handles the spotlight — one that is coming to Indiana.
On Caitlin Clark having pressure of being in spotlight
“Obviously she has a lot of attention on her all the time, and that can bring a lot of pressure, but I think she handles it better than anyone I’ve ever met,” teammate Gabbie Marshall said. “I know if it was me, it would be a lot on me. I give her props for that, and I think she just comes in every day, every practice and just — you can just tell how much she loves her teammates and how much she loves her coaches and how much she just loves the game.
“So I think that just radiates throughout everything she does. There’s no one more deserving than her of everything that she’s accomplished.”
On Caitlin Clark’s winning mentality
“I’ve learned a lot from Caitlin, and I feel grateful I’ve gotten to spend four years with her,” senior teammate Kate Martin said. ”She’s just come in since her freshman year and made everyone better around her. That’s what the greats do is raise the level of competition every single day in practice.
“She had goals, and typically I was looking up to people who were older than me. Then somebody younger coming in with such a fiery mentality and wanting to win, and I just loved it. Sometimes you don’t really think about looking up to somebody who’s younger than you, but I always admired her, even since the day she stepped on campus, because I knew she wanted to win.
“I would take somebody like Caitlin, who’s fiery, might snap on people, over somebody who doesn’t give a crap. I would take that all day.”
On Caitlin Clark’s competitiveness on the court
“Man, I mean, I’ve had to call technicals on her in practice,” coach Lisa Bluder said. “I mean, she gets — like you see her in games and the emotion she plays with in games, the passion, the highs, the lows — she’s the same way in practice when we go against our practice guys, when we have officials in, and the officials that we’re bringing in sometimes don’t want to call technicals on us, so I’ll just do it from the bench because I do feel like we have to try to help her maintain her composure at times.”
On Caitlin Clark, Iowa hitting viewership records
“It’s just super cool to be a part of,” Martin said. “We’re not taking anything for granted when it comes to that. I think it’s hard when you’re in the moment, like you said, to really recognize and realize what is happening, but, I mean, it shows with our viewership versus LSU, 12.3 million viewers. That’s something super cool. And that just attracts more fans and that’s a good brand of basketball. LSU’s a great team. So are we.
“So it’s fun whenever we can be a part of this, and obviously having stars like Caitlin and other stars across the country, that attracts more and more people. And it’s fun to be in the position that we are and be role models and people that others can look up to.”
On Caitlin Clark’s legacy at Iowa, women’s college basketball
“I hear all the time about how many friends people have made in the stands just watching our games,” Martin said. “We sold out every single home game this year at Carver. And everywhere we go, we have fans lining up wanting Caitlin’s autograph, our autograph. More than anything, our legacy is what we’ve brought to the state of Iowa, I think, and all the joy and the fun.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: What Caitlin Clark’s Iowa teammates, coaches have to say about her
