The Team USA selection committee has their work cut out for them in terms of choosing the 12-player roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics this summer.
All eyes are on Fever rookie Caitlin Clark, Indiana’s No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft last month and the only collegiate athlete invited to the Team USA 14-player training camp in April.
Clark missed the final camp before the summer games due to playing in the Final Four with Iowa, who came up short against South Carolina in the national championship game.
Sheldon #4 of the Dallas Wings at College Park Center on May
03, 2024 in Arlington, Texas. Getty Images
Clark — the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer — is arguably the best shooter college basketball has ever seen, and she would likely be a solid contributor for Team USA on the offensive end.
But her rookie status could be a bad look to some.
The 22-year-old Clark has not yet participated in senior team camp — the final one ahead of the summer games was in Cleveland last month — which goes against the “pay your dues with Team USA” regime, as pointed out by The Athletic.
The women’s basketball Olympic roster reportedly will be announced sometime in June.
Clark has yet to play a regular season game in the WNBA, and joining Team USA could also be seen as polarizing move because of notable snubs in years past: Candace Parker in 2016 and Nneka Ogwumike in 2021.
Other big names, such as the Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu and Phoenix’s Kahleah Copper, also have yet to make their first Team USA roster.
The selection committee, made up of Dawn Staley, Seimone Augustus, DeLisha Milton-Jones, Jennifer Rizzotti and WNBA head of league operations Bethany Donaphin, will raise eyebrows regardless of its decision for a number of reasons partly due to Clark’s celebrity.
Fourteen players, including Clark, were invited to the final pre-roster-announcement training camp in Cleveland last month — and nine of them are past Olympians: Diana Taurasi, Ariel Atkins, Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young.
Shakira Austin, Rhyne Howard, Aliyah Boston and Ionescu attended the camp.
Clark said in an interview with “Today” last month that representing the United States would “mean everything” to her.
“That’s one of my dreams as a kid. Growing up, you always want to be an Olympic gold medalist,” she said. “Lucky enough, I’ve been able to play for a few junior national teams in their basketball system, so I know how special it is to represent USA across your chest. Being able to do that on the highest level would certainly be a dream come true.”
Clark would bring attention to the Paris Games as she played a major role in the dominance of college basketball and the NCAA women’s tournament.
“Full Court Press” in Indianapolis on May 6, 2024. Timothy Hiatt/Shutterstock
Her star power fueled sold-out crowds throughout Iowa’s season and those added as much as $82.5 million to the state’s economy, according to a report from the Common Sense Institute.
USA Basketball is vying for its eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal and 10th overall at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, which is 11 weeks away.
It said it will continue to evaluate the 2021-24 USA Women’s National Team player pool prior to naming a team for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Team USA went 3-0 in the 2024 FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Antwerp, Belgium in February.