Copyright sportskeeda
Caitlin Clark has been one of the biggest women's basketball stars in the past three years, earning her respect from aspiring hoopers. In an offseason event, Clark dropped priceless wisdom for young basketball players, who are looking up to her. Clark told young hoopers at the Long Island Association's annual fall luncheon in Woodbury that they should live in the moment and enjoy their career paths. "Just enjoy it. It goes so fast," she said. "I'm only 23, but I feel like I was just in high school. Some of my memories are from playing sports, from when I was playing in middle school and high school. Just enjoy it."Clark played high school basketball at Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, where she built herself into one of the most highly touted prospects in her class. After a lengthy recruitment process, Clark eventually chose the Iowa Hawkeyes for her collegiate career, where she became the NCAA's all-time leading scoring leader and one of the most popular names in the sport. Following her impressive rookie season which she won the Rookie of the Year award, Clark struggled to stay on the court in her second year, appearing in only 13 games due to a groin injury. Without Clark, the Fever remained a competitive team, reaching the WNBA semifinals, albeit losing against the eventual WNBA champions Las Vegas Aces. Fever teammate describes Clark's humility amid popularityFever's Kelsey Mitchell described how Caitlin Clark kept her humility in the team, despite being one of the biggest stars in the sport. According to Mitchell, Clark does not impose herself on the team, letting every teammate shine in their role. "The biggest part that I respected about Caitlin is that she never was bigger than the program. I don't know if that makes sense but she wasn't trying to take over... She wasn't trying to be bigger than everybody," Mitchell said. "The way that her style of play -- it ended up complementing me, it ended up complementing Aliyah Boston... The one thing I love about Caitlin too is that we all love basketball the same way. We all have our different styles and way of playing it. But the passion for it... I respected that."This offseason will be dedicated to Clark's recovery as the Fever is expected for her to return in time for the 2026 WNBA season.
