After months of isolating and frustrating rehab, Fever star Caitlin Clark finally made a return to the court at USA Basketball camp in Durham, North Carolina, on Friday.
Clark was limited to just 13 games this season after suffering injuries to her left quad, left groin, right groin, and left ankle. It was a season of setbacks, Clark said over Zoom on Friday, with injuries compounding onto each other.
The final setback was a severe ankle injury while doing an individual workout Aug. 7, which prevented her from adequately testing out her groin and ultimately ending her season.
“I think the challenge for myself was just, it was one, and then it’s like a little better, but then it continued to compound and get worse and other things pop up,” Clark said. “And then I had the ankle injury. So it feels nice to finally be back at 100%.”
And that’s just in time for USA Basketball training camp. Clark is one of 17 players at the camp and one of 10 newcomers to the Senior National Team.
Clark was on the shortlist for a spot on the 2024 Paris Olympics team, despite never attending a senior national team camp at the time. While she ultimately did not make the 2024 Olympic team, attending these camps now will only further solidify a potential spot on the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympic roster.
“She’s a terrific player, really locked in and focused,” USA National Team head coach Kara Lawson told the Associated Press. “I thought she looked good on both ends. And I thought that she hadn’t missed a beat.”
Clark has competed for Team USA on the junior national team before, winning gold medals with the U19 National Team in the 2019 and 2021 FIBA World Cups and the 2017 U17 World Championships.
“This is the biggest honor you could possibly have, playing basketball for our country wearing USA across your chest,” Clark said. “I’m just excited to be here.”
Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at capeterson@gannett.com or follow her on X at @chloepeterson67.