Caitlin Clark tells her whole hoops story – from childhood to Iowa to the WNBA draft | Inside Look

Caitlyn Clark, she's the best college basketball scorer I've ever seen. You support Kaitlyn Clark. Here comes Clark, how will the

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go? She's the all-time leading scorer in women's college basketball on this journey you've been on lately. keeps saying, you know, when I was a little girl I dreamed about things like this, it's not things I haven't thought about what your dream was when I was a little girl, oh man, that's a great question, I think well, my mom has this similar piece. of paper like when I was in second or third grade and you have to write like all your dreams and like these little bubbles and I remember one of them was playing in the WNBA and winning a basketball scholarship like those were two of my like There were a lot of others goals, probably like I don't know, get a dog or something, but I think those were two of my biggest goals and then obviously college basketball has become a reality and hopefully the WNBA here. in short, but I think as a child I was super competitive and my parents always knew that and I was always someone driven by goals and I think that stayed the same throughout my life, whether it was in school, whether it was soccer or whether it was softball , whether it was track, really any sport that I was playing, but especially basketball, since I always wanted to be the best and there were times when I definitely wasn't or I failed, but you know, you just keep going, get back up and keep going. trying and I think perseverance has always been a great thing too.

You know, my parents never told me I couldn't do something or they were always there and had my back when things didn't go the way I wanted and they teach you a lot of things. life lessons for sure, so you have these dreams and you have these things that you're doing, you're playing a lot of sports, when did you start crystallizing into basketball and what could this be like? Yeah, I think growing up, especially through the

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process, even In high school I still played a lot of different sports and once I got into high school I just played basketball and soccer for the most part and then after sophomore year I quit the football and I knew that my future was in basketball and that's where I was going to have the most success, obviously my college recruiting started to pick up a little bit, and that's what I wanted to spend my time practicing, doing and improving, so in That's what I started focusing on, probably in the second year.

I was in high school and knew I would have an even bigger future before that, but that's when I really started focusing on it. You said you worked for moments like this. How was the work? What were you doing as a sophomore in high school? school that was unique or interesting, well I vividly remember it was fun before one of my soccer games we were playing at home one night and I went and worked out in the gym like I was shooting and I did a full workout in my jersey. I was like soaked and sweating and my soccer teammates were not very happy because they thought that this girl couldn't exercise before, she has to go out for a run and play a soccer game because I played as a forward and scored the goals. us and they just couldn't believe that I wanted to go and work out before having to run around a football field for 90 minutes or however many minutes, so I think it was like I'd always wanted to be in the gym.

I always wanted to get better and I had an older brother who played sports so I was always going to his practices before I could even shoot a three like I was dribbling and going to his practices my dad was my first coach and he was really all I knew , all I knew was going to the gym. He always asked my dad to help me, so it was something he enjoyed doing, it was something fun and a bond that united us. of shared, so that leads me directly to my next question: how did your siblings impact your competitive spirit?

Yes, I think my brothers still had a lot of impact. They are two of my biggest supporters and probably two of my biggest enemies as well. They humiliate me all. the moment and um, when I have a game there, maybe I don't shoot as well or play as well as if they were the first one to text me to say something funny, but I think it just puts everything into perspective and that's kind of true. So, my view of my entire career is that you know you win some, you lose some, you learn, you improve and you grow, and I think that's something that I've learned, you know, I wasn't always like that when I was a freshman. and sophomore, but as a junior and senior, that's super important and being able to understand that, but I think my brother is like growing up, my mom probably had to deal with too many fights.

I once threw my brother against a wall and he opened up in his head um and my older brother was always bigger, stronger and faster, so every time I wanted to play with him and his friends, they would just pick on me or, You know, I never won anything and my mom always said like if you want to play with them, you have to find a way to defend yourself like you're the one who wants to hang out with them and play sports with them, that's how it's going to be, so , I really appreciate it. Now, and a lot of those people that I grew up with, you know, hanging out or playing sports, whether they're older boys or girls, they're some of my biggest fans and it's great to see them Reach Out now and just be really supportive and appreciative of everything. what I have been able to do.

I'm glad you mentioned that because Colin told me he had to get Staples on his people, don't believe it, he really had a staple on his head, like if he had a haircut now he would have like a bald spot on the back of his head yeah, I remember it vividly like it literally made me so angry I think I just scored. I literally grabbed him with both hands and just threw him against the wall and it was like where the corners of two walls meet and he just put his hand back and said like this and it's like mom because his hand was full of blood and my mom I wasn't happy, but I was thinking.

I think it was a day when it was snowing so we didn't have school so we were in the basement like we had nothing else to do and we couldn't leave the house and then What you know is my mom is taking him around the house. walk to the clinic without an appointment to have his head re-stapled. I love that

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, so I think there's a part of you that knows he has to keep up with the kids, you're an MVP. from a boys' league, you know, tell me what it was like to play with the boys, how did that change you as a competitor, as a player?

Yeah, I think growing up playing with the boys like I played with the boys, honestly, I think until the sixth grade, which is probably a lot longer than most girls and I also played soccer with the boys and my parents just knew. that I was a little more advanced in my skills from an early age and I think they also had a hard time finding teams where there were girls who were quite competitive and they were going to help me improve and I was going to have fun doing it

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ing back like never before and I never liked it have questioned it.

It was never like, oh, why am I playing with the guys? It was just what I liked and seriously, those are some of my best friends to this day and they always message me and are so proud of me and those are some of the guys that they know I would beat them one on one, so it's funny. I would admit it, but I honestly think a big reason for who I am is growing up and playing that way and my dad was my coach even when he played with the kids and they all loved him too and obviously growing up and having two. brothers, I think that certainly helped because I was always around, you know, guys that pushed me and wanted to play sports and yeah, I think that was super special in my development and it was never something that held me back, it was like, you know, I .

I'm a girl, I can defend myself like that, it's not something I've ever been afraid of. I love him so much. You've told me a story before about how they took you away because you were crying, why are you so worried? about winning, I think, especially when I was younger, I really had a hard time understanding losing and my parents didn't really appreciate that at all when I lost when I was in softball or basketball or whatever, I would just cry, that was my immediate reaction because I couldn't understand why I wasn't winning, like all I wanted to do was win, no matter if it was a board game, um, a card game, anything really, like I was just going to do whatever it took. to win.

I got into trouble. I was in school all the time because I wanted to win so much that I got kicked out of physical education class because I was so competitive. I had to meet with my parents because I cared a lot about PE class, but I think it's been something that I've been able to balance, especially as my career has progressed, and I think it's very important to play on this stage, you know, no one said I never thought you were going to have a perfect record and a lot of the losses in my career have really driven me to be who I am today, whether it was getting angry in my second year in the round of 32 and creating probably one of the worst losses in my entire career in basketball, but I'm not sure I don't have that loss, right? so good, I don't think so, so I think being able to learn that and understand that as my career has progressed has been very important for me, how did you develop your reach and your confidence?

You know that logo 3 is your thing, why, with what honesty. I think it's about developing strength more than anything and I also think the way people guard me makes it harder for me to defend myself as if you get to your defense you have to stretch out more and it wasn't something I always did early. In my career here as a freshman I did it a little bit, but I think sophomore year, since I had a year of strength and conditioning under my belt, you could really see that my body was starting to recover, my legs got a lot stronger, my arms got a lot stronger and I think the most important thing is that a lot of my shooting comes from my legs as I don't really shoot with my arms and I think that's very important. , my balance.

It's really good, but yeah, I think the most important thing is that I grew up watching a lot of basketball. I loved Steph Curry. I never thought he needed to make very long threes. It was something that evolved in my game and something that I really embraced and the crowd embraced and the fans embraced, so, you know, it's probably people's favorite part of my game and I definitely think it helps my team, just He spaces the field so much, he makes us like that. hardest to score you have a favorite shot have you ever hit your favorite shot have you ever hit oh, that's tough i would probably say the Indiana shot if I had to pick a shot the one that beat Indiana's buzzer beater last year oh well, Michigan the record-breaking shot here, I probably chose that, I don't know, there have been a lot of shots, there are really too many, you can't pick them.

I know when you came to Iowa, why did you decide to come here? Oh man,

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ing back, I think. Well, first of all, it's like one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life was to come here and I was really undecided about where I was going to go, if it was going to be Notre Dame or if I was going to be here. and obviously Notre Dame is an amazing place and Coach McGraw was an idol of mine growing up and it was like, ah, how can I not want to go to Notre Dame like it's Notre Dame?

But I felt in my heart that I had to do it. being here like something was really drawing me here and obviously this is my home state and I wanted to represent my state and I wanted to do something that hadn't really been done for a long time, obviously I was in the final four since 1993. and Coach C Vivian Stringer had really built this program to be a powerhouse and obviously Coach BL has done some really incredible things, she was a top eight, she made it to the sweet 16, but our goal was to get back to the final four and that's what Coach Blor always pitched.

For me, I loved that challenge, I really wanted a challenge and something about it was I can't let this go and I think that's the main reason I came here. What were the crowds like when you first arrived? Well, when my freshman year it was Co, so there was literally no one here, which in some ways I almost feel like it was a positive thing for me because I had a year of college basketball under my belt, obviously I missed the crowd, but I got to play and understanding the game and learning from my teammates without a bunch of fans just yelling at you and I feel like that was almost a benefit for me in a way and then moving into my second year, the crowds were good, but they're obviously not with the magnitude they have now, we can turn our Arena into half an arena, we can lower these curtains to be about 10,000 or 8,000, whatever, and we lower the curtains a lot and then In my third and fourth year as if the curtains were never there downs, like he's exhausted, he's rocking and it's been cool to see the evolution of how the crowds have changed over my four years, starting with absolutely no one and now you can.

You will hardly get a ticket to enter. I know that your teammates are very important toyou and that's been a big part of it, but how proud do you feel that a lot of these people come to see you play? Honestly, it's very difficult. so I can understand that, but at the same time, like I was that young girl that wanted to go to basketball games, whether they were sold out or whether, you know, I grew up going to games at Drake. College because that was the team in De Mo so it was like 15 minutes from my house so my dad always took me and I loved it and there weren't always a ton of people there but I just wanted to be there so it means a lot To me, people are spending so much time, money and resources just to get in. the door and watching us knock and the way the crowd screams like it's something that will literally never get old and something I never take for granted and during every national anthem I literally look around and I like SOA in the crowd and I like to take a breath deep because these are some of the best moments of my life and I get to do it with my best friends, but I also like the way we've been able to change women's basketball and bring more attention to it, it's really special.

The first time I saw you play you were playing against Paige Beckers Connecticut, it was a highly publicized matchup because you two had played against each other when you were kids and I thought you were too small as you were, you weren't strong enough, how? you changed your body to become the basketball player you are now yeah it was it's funny I was just looking back like I watched our Kentucky game and that was the game before Yukon and I look so frail and skinny and I kind of eat a twig out there, um, so I think my body has matured naturally, but I also put in time in the weight room, like I knew that was an emphasis for me, like it had to be stronger, I had to be faster um and especially that's the same going to the next level, that's something that I have to continue to develop, but um, yeah, I think I'll always be someone that's probably going to be a little bit small, like I'm just thin, somewhat fragile. set, but I'm also fast, I need to be fast, stuff like that, I think sometimes people don't realize how fast I am, it's a little bit misleading and, um, but I think adding strength was, you know, the part more important. and you can see in photos how me as a freshman friend, now me as a senior, I look completely different, my face is the same but my body is much more chiseled and honestly I think I'm not sure about adding certain parts to my game that I've had over the course of these four years, if I don't start in the weight room first and get stronger and faster, it's really okay, my other thing, I don't think people know about you, It's just looking directly at the camera and saying Yo, your hands, you think I have big hands, they're huge.

I know I've always had the biggest kind of hands. How does this help you? Because I think that in your passes, in your possession of the ball, all these things are important, yes. I think I've always been someone who has loved passing the ball. Honestly, I knew I had big hands until you pointed it out, but I don't know. I mean, maybe it'll help me handle the ball. I may like it. grab it and I don't know, maybe throw it harder, it's never been something I've liked oh, maybe that's why I'm such a good passer, but yeah, I think passing is something that's also underrated in my game.

I think it kind of gives me as much joy to throw a really good pass to my teammates as to make a logo three um and I think that can sometimes make it a lot harder to defend ourselves and even I myself am harder to defend because I'm sure You can take away my shots and stuff, but I'm going to find a way to get my teammates open and I'm really proud of that. How do you stay calm in the eye of this storm like I've exhausted myself at some point? of these games on the road because people are yelling and screaming at you and it's a lot Caitlyn, how are you doing it honestly?

I feel like at this point I'm really used to these crows, if they're screaming for us, if they're screaming against us, luckily, it feels like a lot of times they're screaming for us and even moving forward throughout the entire NCAA tournament. I think it will be the same way that our fans have traveled so well, you know there are Iowa Fans all over the country, but there are also basketball fans and people who just appreciate the game and want to see and support women doing things really cool, but I think I just lean on my teammates like I know I don't have to do everything.

Just one thing and I think that's also been something that I've had to learn throughout my career: Caitlyn, a freshman and sophomore, thought the world would end if she didn't do all these things for her team, but I think which I, junior and senior, like. I understand that I'm always going to be able to impact this game, whether I'm scoring or not, but also being a good leader and being there for my teammates. This is a team sport and I can play with four. There are other girls on the court at the same time as me, so I lean on them and trust them, and I think that's where I find my calm and my joy and my peace when I walk on the court, it's like I know I don't.

I have to do everything, that's why I have teammates, that's why it's a team sport and that's what makes us so much fun. What has Chase's record been like? Honestly, it wasn't something I really thought about too much, like I was aware of it. It's just because of the media and that's what people would talk about a lot, but it was never like, oh my God, like I need to do this or I need to break this, it's something that has come with my four years. to play basketball and be myself and, um, I know a lot of people thought we didn't get it on purpose at Nebraska, but the breaking news isn't true, you know, we did it, we were doing everything we could to win the game and , unfortunately, You know, Nebraska went to a boxing tournament and it threw us off our game a little bit, but I think the most important thing is that I've been very fortunate to have a coach that has really allowed me to be me and Since I walked on campus , she believed in me a lot and never told me: don't do this or that as if it were just being yourself, going out and having fun.

She has never restricted me or told me you can't. take it seriously, like it's always been about just being Caitlyn and she's allowed me to thrive, but she's also trained me really hard, she never stops training me and she knows there's still a lot of room for me to improve and that's what I love about her. It's been a relief to break it and put this behind us or yeah, I think it was good to finally break it and just move on and focus on my team and these games that we have to move forward because now the only thing that matters is if we win, that's how we will be able to play more basketball games.

You have one more great record, what did people call you when you were a kid? Coleta, Pete I. I think that's what a lot of people and I remember vividly, like the first time I heard about Pistol Pete. I think I was a freshman in high school and there was a substitute teacher at my high school who came up to me and told me that he had seen me play basketball before and he said, Do you know who Pete Marovich is? And I was like H, not really like he's good, you need to put it on YouTube like you're exactly like him, and so I did and I remember seeing something like that.

The first thing I vividly remember watching is his ball handling videos. It's almost like this video is even real because the way he was able to handle the basketball is just incredible and I feel like that was the first time I really heard it. of him um and obviously I've seen a lot of videos of him and stuff like that and um it's great to be in the same realm of people that have forever changed our game and some Legends of our game and people that I even grew up with. especially idolizing the women's side, whether it's Jackie Styles, Britney Griner, Maya Moral and Delodon like Kelsey Plum, you can go on and on like it's hard for me to comprehend even being in the same vicinity as them because those are people that I only think about what went into your decision to go to the W.

Yeah, I think it was definitely a tough decision just because you have two such amazing options, so it's like how am I going to choose and be able to choose one when you? I want to be able to do both and I think the most important thing for me is that you know I'm ready for something new. A new challenge, a new chapter and I feel like I really gave my heart and soul to this place and that's what's going to make it so hard to leave, but that's also what gives me so much confidence in myself to get through. to the next level.

I have given everything to this place and I will leave here without regrets and obviously there is still a lot to do. There is a lot of time left, I want to be national champion and that is our goal and I think that also influenced, you know, I want to be free in March, I want to play, I want to have fun, I want to have closure. of knowing that you know that these will be my last times on the court with my teammate. I don't want to have to lie awake wondering if this will be your last time, do you? for me and I'm very confident in that and I'm happy with that decision and I think it will allow me to take it all in and really feel all the emotions and even the same for my teammates and they can get all the flowers that they deserve too and allow May my family enjoy it too, so like I said, I'm very excited and happy for the future, but also my main focus is to take this team as far as we can go and I think this decision will help me do that as well.

What's in store for March? What is the OBJETIVE? I think the most important thing in March, especially after last year, is that we know how long it can be and how exhausting it can be. being able to take care of your body and concentrate from game to game and I also think you know there will be games where you don't play well, just if you want to reach your goals you have to win six or seven. games, so you have to be able to compartmentalize not having a good game and I think our team understands that now and going from the Big 10 tournament to the NCAA tournament, you can really get a lot of momentum if you start playing your best. you can. basketball and I think that's what I really appreciate about Coach Bler is that she finds a way for her teams to play their best basketball in March and that's when you really need it and I think just taking it game by game you can't look too far ahead. go ahead, you just have to win every day, every practice, and that's always what coach BL preaches and, um, I think March Madness is the best postseason tournament in all of sports, you know, if you're, no are you ready to play someday.

Your season can be over in the blink of an eye and I've been on the losing side and also the winning side, so I think I have a good outlook heading into my last NCAA tournament and you know, that's what it is. so exciting and then my last question is going to be how aware are you of the Clark economy because some people from the WNBA contacted me yesterday. Season tickets at opposing Arenas have been selling like hotcakes, just like you are selling tickets. about your financial impact on this game, it's crazy to think about and honestly it's really hard for me to understand that I'm only 22 years old and my biggest focus is going out and playing basketball and I'm having a lot of fun, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that I notice everything that's going on around me and, you know, the hotel prices on the days we have games here in Iowa City or the way the restaurants fill up or um. how expensive it is to just get in the door for one of our games, so I think that's something that I'm aware of, something that I'm grateful for and, you know, I hope it stays that way for women's basketball across the country. . that's how it should be.

I love that you say that the best part of this year hasn't been you and your records, it's been your team's success, why does that matter so much? I think that speaks to our culture that the BL coach has. Built here it's always about the team and I think coming into this year we knew how good we were going to be. Every person in our locker room believed that. I think that speaks to the way we develop talent. You know the people. They don't want to leave this place because they love it, they love the culture that we built, but they also learned from two really great players who gave a lot to our program: Monica and McKenna, and I know in the outside world there were a lot of questions about what we could do, but I think we've exceeded a lot of people's expectations and we're a team that looks different, but we're also a team where you know we have the same foundation and we know what it takes to get back to where we want to be in March and I think that's the most exciting part and that's what I loved about our team: we've never doubted each other, even if there's been a tough loss.

We believe we can be there with the best in March and that's what makes me so excited.