Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever are perfectly fine with expectations.
“Me personally, I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Clark said Thursday. “That’s just something you embrace. You just rise to the occasion.”
Clark’s debut WNBA season was a roller coaster. She was drafted two weeks after leading Iowa to the Final Four and began professional life with the Fever while living out of a hotel and trying to get her bearings in a new city and novel environment.
“It’s all just really new, trying to get your feet under you,” Clark said. “Going into Year 2, that’s the biggest thing for me … having that experience that I know how things operate gives me a lot of confidence.”
Clark said she struggled to know when to use her voice as a rookie and learned how to handle situations that were otherwise foreign. Being more comfortable in her leadership role as the team’s point guard put Clark in position to focus on the big picture.
“Winning,” Clark said of her 2025 goals.
Clark shot 41.7 percent from the field as a rookie when defenses were fixed on making her life difficult — and often succeeded. Clark had 223 turnovers in 40 games — a whopping 5.6 per game. She averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 8.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
She said there’s no comparison between her rookie season and the upcoming season, primarily with a selfless locker room locked in on achieving a universal goal.
“We all have the same goals here. Put ourselves in position to compete for a championship and win a championship,” first-year coach Stephanie White said. “It’s new for everybody. We’re going to naturally learn work style, work habits, through practice and on the floor. The priority early has been communication and building relationship.”
White, a high school star in the state who played at Purdue and for the Fever (2000-04), is in her second stint as the franchise’s head coach. She was head coach of the Fever in 2015-16 after four years as an assistant.
Not everything in Indiana will be a repeat of 2024.
The Fever finished last season with a flourish to make the playoffs but lost to White and the Connecticut Sun in the first round.
On the heels of a busy Fever offseason focused on finding seasoned players to build around Clark, White said the intentional work ethic and work style of Clark is “impressive” and a big part of what made the job attractive.
“There was a lot thrown at Caitlin from Day One. For us as opponents, making everything as difficult as possible. Trying to wear here down,” White said. “Trying to make life as difficult as possible. With great players, you’re not going to stop them, completely shut them down. As Caitlin got better, obviously we had to change our strategy. She’s an incredibly hard worker. She wants to get better. She’s a perfectionist.”
White said she already sees infinite growth in Clark since the season-ending loss a year ago, but is reminding players they haven’t “done anything yet.”
“We can’t win a championship in May,” White said.
–Field Level Media
