The Indiana Fever needed to make some upgrades to the roster in order to vie for a WNBA championship and give Caitlin Clark extra firepower on both sides of the ball.

The team has done just that.

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The Fever re-signed Kelsey Mitchell, acquired Sophie Cunningham from the Phoenix Mercury and added Natasha Howard, DeWanna Bonner and Sydney Colson. In an offseason that saw the Las Vegas Aces trade Kelsey Plum to the Los Angeles Sparks, the Fever may have made some of the shrewdest moves that have gone under the radar.

"I got to work out with DB. As some offseason leagues and overseas stuff kinda wraps up, a lot of them will start getting back and I think it will be a lot of fun to get in the gym and be with my teammates and just starting putting the pieces together and see what works or what doesn't," Clark said at Bonner’s introductory press conference, via CBS Sports. "But I think we're going to have a lot of different options to do a lot of different things. I think that's what's super exciting."

CAITLIN CLARK RESPONDS TO CRITICS AHEAD OF IOWA JERSEY RETIREMENT: 'I REALLY DON'T CARE'

Clark, Mitchell and Aliyah Boston shined bright in the 2024 season. Clark won the Rookie of the Year award and received some MVP votes. Mitchell was an All-Star for the second straight season. Boston was also an All-Star for the second time and built momentum after her rookie year.

Add players with playoff experience and a coach in Stephanie White, who coached the Connecticut Sun the last two seasons to at least 27 wins, and the Fever have turned into formidable contenders for the WNBA title in 2025.

Bonner is a six-time All-Star and two-time WNBA champion in her own right. She is also not one to be intimidated or messed around with, as she has proven to back up her teammates no matter which team she is playing for. She proved that in the playoffs last season when she and Clark had an in-game spat.

"I think it's just two competitive players that want to win and push their team to get over the finish line. It was the playoffs, so emotions are high, tensions are high," she recalled, via the Indy Star.

Bonner added she and Clark had a good workout to build chemistry with Clark.

"I'm just here to hopefully give my leadership advice," Bonner added. "I don't think I need to push her to be any type of player that she isn't already is, and I'm just happy to be here, and I hope I can give her some knowledge to bring her game to a different level."

Expectations will be high for Clark and the Fever in her second WNBA season.

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Caitlin Clark had a terrific Sunday afternoon.

The University of Iowa women’s basketball program immortalized Clark’s career forever as they officially retired her No. 22 jersey and hung it in the rafters of Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Clark stood with her family as the number was raised to the top of the facility.

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Clark then got to watch the Hawkeyes stun No. 4 USC for one of the biggest wins of their season. Lucy Olsen scored 28 points and Addison O’Grady had 13 in the 76-69 win. Iowa opened the game on a 17-1 run but were down at halftime before righting the ship and pulling off the victory.

Olsen and O’Grady had 23 of Iowa’s 25 fourth-quarter points.

JuJu Watkins, who is set to be the next women’s basketball star, led the team with 27 points, five rebounds and three assists. She was 8-of-22 from the field and played 40 minutes.

But it wasn’t enough for the Trojans to hold off Iowa.

Clark, who became college basketball’s all-time leading scorer while leading Iowa to back-to-back national championship appearances, spoke about her jersey retirement before the game.

SOUTH CAROLINA RETIRES JERSEY NUMBER OF 3-TIME WNBA MVP A'JA WILSON

"I feel like I already have those butterflies in your stomach when you walk in here," Clark said during a pregame press conference. "Not so much for a basketball game now, but obviously just to be around everybody and to enjoy this environment. I don’t have to go and compete for 40 minutes, even though I wish maybe I could. I think it will definitely be a little bit more emotional that I don’t have to compete."

A sellout crowd of 14,998 attended the game. Former Iowa coach Lisa Bluder and former teammates Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall were in attendance. Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White and comedian David Letterman were also at the game.

Clark reflected on the winning Iowa did while she was at the press conference.

"The winning came because of the great culture that we had," she said. "And for me, I hope that’s the thing that always stays intact, and I know it will, because of the great coaching staff we have and the type of players that they are here. 

"We had players that were selfless. We had players that didn’t care how many points you were going to score. They’re going to do whatever they could for your teammates. They were going to hold their teammates accountable. And I think that’s a lost art in college these days, and you don’t always see that."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Caitlin Clark has become one of the most polarizing figures in all of sports over the last year-plus.

Her popularity reached a peak nearly two years ago when she and Angel Reese duked it out in the national championship – and then, she became a household name.

Clark set numerous records in her senior year, including becoming the NCAA's all-time leading scorer, and parlayed it all into becoming the No. 1 overall pick.

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But then came the culture wars that she found herself in the middle of, with many, including WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson, saying that her race played a role in her popularity.

Clark was the victim of some hard fouls and trash talk throughout her rookie season, but it didn't seem to faze her, as she set plenty of records in Year One.

Clark returned to Iowa on Sunday to see her No. 22 go into the rafters, and she was asked about the criticism she's received recently.

"I think it’s just life. Everybody goes through some of the things that I’ve gone through, a lot of people go through a lot worse. I just try to remind myself every single day how grateful I am to be in the position I am, I want to treat everyone the same way that I would want to be treated. It speaks to the way I was raised and my parents raised me. There’s gonna be good days, there’s gonna be bad days. But it’s just, you go with the flow. I think having a good circle around me, a small circle around me of people that I really trust that I can always count on and lean on is what’s been so important for me over this past year," Clark told reporters on Sunday.

ANGEL REESE BECOMES FIRST PLAYER EJECTED FROM UNRIVALED LEAGUE AND THEN CALLS COVERAGE OF IT 'CLICKBAIT'

"But also, I’ve said this before, I feel like one of my greatest skills is I really don’t care. Like, I don’t. I don’t care. I believe in myself, I’m confident in myself, I’m confident in my teammates, I try to instill that in them, I’m confident in the coaching staff of whatever team I was on, whether that was [at Iowa], whether that’s at the Fever now. You just rely on those people. Nobody gets to step inside your locker room… Everybody thinks they know everything and have an answer, but that’s just not reality. That goes for all of professional sports, that goes for all of you as well and people in life."

As Clark's rookie season progressed, there were allegations of racism from both Fever and Iowa fans, a claim made by the aforementioned Reese.

But Clark's appearances in games brought historic viewership to both the college and pro levels. The final three games of her college career were the most-watched women's college basketball games ever. She also had several of her regular-season games draw more viewers than WNBA playoff games, and her WNBA matchups with Reese were some of the most-viewed WNBA games ever.

WNBA teams even had to move to larger arenas simply because of the ticket demand Clark drew; the Fever sold 90 times more tickets this past year than in 2023.

Clark was named the Rookie of the Year for her historic campaign during which she set the record for the most assists in one season in league history. She carried the Fever to a playoff appearance after a slow start, and she quickly became a double-double machine. She even set a single-game record with 19 assists. She also became the first rookie to record a triple-double, registering two of them.

She received the most votes for the All-Star Game and was just the fifth rookie in league history to make the All-WNBA first-team. 

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Connecticut Sun player DiJonai Carrington incited fierce backlash by wearing an anti-Trump shirt last weekend, and now she's taking that message even further. 

During a press conference before an "Unrivaled" league game Thursday, Carrington declared it's time for WNBA players to "take action" in response to President Donald Trump's policies.

"We see that some of the policies are already going into action, and, of course, that means that as the WNBA and being at the forefront of a lot of these movements, it's time for us to also take action," Carrington said. 

"It definitely needs to happen as women, women's rights being taken away, like, now, LGBTQ rights being taken away now. They haven't happened yet, but definitely in the works."

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Carrington wore a shirt that said, "The F--- Donald Trump Tour" Friday while walking into Wayfair Arena in Miami, Florida.

The player is most known for her interactions with women's basketball phenom Caitlin Clark during Clark's rookie WNBA season in 2024. 

Carrington gave Clark a black eye after poking her during a game between Clark's Indiana Fever and Carrington's Connecticut Sun in the first round of the playoffs in September. Carrington laughed with Fever teammate Marina Mabrey after the incident.

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Carrington has said she didn't intentionally poke Clark in the eye and that she wasn't laughing about the incident. However, she made light of the controversy over Clark's black eye in an Instagram Live video in October. 

In the video, Carrington and her girlfriend, NaLyssa Smith, who plays on the Indiana Fever with Clark, were in their kitchen when Smith poked Carrington in the eye.

"Ow, you poked me in the eye," Carrington said. Smith apologized, and the two laughed.

"Did you do it on purpose?" Carrington asked.

Carrington provoked Clark fans prior to the eye-poking incident with multiple statements berating Clark and her fan base. 

During a game in June, Carrington fouled Clark after Clark received an inbound pass from teammate Kristy Wallace. Clark caught the pass and started toward the basket. Carrington was late getting to Clark due to a screen by Aliyah Boston, and she bumped into Clark.

Later that month, Carrington posted on X, saying Clark should do more to speak out about people using her name for "racism" and other forms of prejudice. She also called the Fever fans the "nastiest" in the league.

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WNBA player DiJonai Carrington invited a flurry of backlash for wearing a shirt that said "The F--- Donald Trump Tour," and conservative influencer Riley Gaines was quick to jump in. 

Carrington showed off the shirt Friday, while walking into Wayfair Arena in Miami, Florida. Carrington is most known for her interactions with women's basketball phenom Caitlin Clark during Clark's rookie WNBA season in 2024. 

Carrington infamously gave Clark a black eye by poking her with her fingernails during a game between Clark's Indiana Fever and Carrington's Connecticut Sun in the first round of the playoffs in September. Carrington laughed with Fever teammate Marina Mabrey after the incident.

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Gaines made light of this in her first critique of Carrington Saturday. 

"So, you’re telling me the same girl who deliberately gouged Caitlin Clark in the eye then laughed about it also wore a hoodie that said, "The F--- Donald Trump Tour"?! I'm shocked," Gaines wrote in a post on X. 

Carrington has said she didn't intentionally poke Clark in the eye and that she wasn't laughing about the incident. But Gaines felt no reservations about implying Carrington's poke at Clark was intentional and that she laughed about it afterward.

Gaines followed up with another critique of the Sun player and even brought LeBron James into the conversation. 

"What has Donald Trump done to make your life worse? Keep LeBron off the court," Gaines wrote on X in response to a photo of Carrington wearing the shirt. 

Carrington provoked Clark fans prior to the eye-poking incident with multiple statements berating Clark and her fan base. 

During a game in June, Carrington fouled Clark after Clark received an inbound pass from teammate Kristy Wallace. Clark caught the pass and started toward the basket. Carrington was late getting to Clark due to a screen by Aliyah Boston, and she bumped into Clark.

Later that month, Carrington posted on X, saying Clark should do more to speak out about people using her name for "racism" and other forms of prejudice. She also called the Fever fans the "nastiest" in the league.

Carrington even made light of the controversy over Clark's black eye in an Instagram Live video in October. In the video, Carrington and her girlfriend, NaLyssa Smith, who plays on the Indiana Fever with Clark, were in their kitchen when Smith poked Carrington in the eye.

"Ow, you poked me in the eye," Carrington said. Smith apologized, and the two laughed.

"Did you do it on purpose?" Carrington asked.

Carrington isn't the first target of Gaines' wrath when it comes to conversations about Clark's presence in the WNBA either. 

After Clark made a comment about benefiting from White privilege in the WNBA during her interview for Time magazine Athlete of The Year, Gaines got into a heated back-and-forth with journalist Jemele Hill. 

After Gaines posted on X criticizing Clark for making the comments, Hill started the debate and even ended up making it personal. 

"You holler all the time about supporting and ‘protecting’ women, and yet the moment that Caitlin Clark expresses appreciation and respect for the Black women in the WNBA (many of whom she grew up watching and idolizing), suddenly you’re acting like a disappointed parent," Hill wrote. 

RILEY GAINES REPEATEDLY TEARS INTO AOC FOR TAKING PRONOUNS OUT OF X BIO AFTER ADVOCATING FOR TRANS ATHLETES

Gaines quickly clapped back, responding to Hill's post by mocking the idea of "White privilege" in the WNBA. 

"'White privilege' in the WNBA is literally hilarious. Maybe you're like Sunny Hostin & think CC also has tall privilege, pretty privilege, and straight privilege," Gaines wrote. "Theres lots of Black players in the WNBA I love [and] respect too, but I don't admire them because they're Black. I admire them for their game. That's the difference." 

Gaines then doubled down by sharing Hill's initial post with a screenshot of comments the journalist made in an interview with the Los Angeles Times in May. In that article, Hill insisted it was "naive" to say Clark's race and sexuality as a straight woman did not play into her popularity in the WNBA, where the majority of players are Black and many are lesbian. 

"Being a long-standing professional race baiter must be SO exhausting," Gaines told Hill in response. 

After Gaines' comment about Hill being a professional race baiter, Hill responded with a message mocking the former swimmer for an incident when she tied with trans athlete Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA women's swimming championships.

"Girl, you need to thank Lia Thomas every day of your life for helping you get famous, otherwise you would have been just a decent college swimmer that no one knew. You wrote the book on grifting — not me," Hill wrote.

Gaines responded by saying, "How deeply regressive [and] utterly misogynistic for Jemele Hill to tell me to thank a man for the platform I have. Thank him for what? Violating us in the locker room? Stealing a national title from a deserving woman? Indirectly stripping us of our 1A rights? Just say you hate women," Gaines wrote in her response.

That was the last message in the exchange. 

Gaines has also picked online fights with other liberal figures, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban. 

Each of Gaines' spats with the liberal figures has been met with roaring engagement from her followers. 

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The Kansas City Chiefs are just two wins away from becoming the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls. And their entourage of celebrity fans got a big-ticket addition Saturday.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw for 177 yards and a touchdown in a 23-12 win over the Houston Texans in the divisional round to advance to the AFC championship game for the seventh consecutive season.

Mahomes took the field just days after welcoming his third child, daughter Golden Raye, who was born Jan. 12. 

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Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce caught seven passes for 117 yards and a touchdwon with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching alongside WNBA star Caitlin Clark. 

The Chiefs are the fourth team in NFL history to follow back-to-back Super Bowl wins by advancing to a conference title game, and the three previous teams lost. The Chiefs will try to change that trend at Arrowhead Stadium next weekend against the Bills or Ravens, who play Sunday in Buffalo for a shot at dethroning the defending champs.

TRAVIS KELCE SHARES TAYLOR SWIFT'S THOUGHTS ON CHIEFS STAR'S POSSIBLE RETIREMENT

Mahomes improved 16-3 in the playoffs, tying Joe Montana for the second-most wins in NFL playoff history behind Tom Brady. Mahomes is 7-0 in the divisional round and helped Andy Reid become the fourth NFL coach with 300 career wins.

The Texans (11-8) still have never won in six divisional games. They have lost to Kansas City twice.

Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud threw for 245 yards but was sacked eight times. Joe Mixon, who had been questionable to play with an ankle injury, caught a couple of passes while running for 88 yards and a touchdown.

Texans kicker Kai’imi Fairbairn missed a 55-yard field goal attempt and an extra-point try and had another field goal attempt blocked with 1:46 left, which would have kept Houston’s comeback hopes alive by making it a one-possession game.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Caitlin Clark's surprise appearance alongside Taylor Swift at the Kansas City Chiefs' playoff game excited many fans Saturday, but some dreaded the sight. 

The initial sight of Clark and Swift in a suite together after the pop star previously extended an invitation to Clark months ago provided a joyful dose of fan service for some. 

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However, many fans have lamented the constant broadcast shots of Swift during Chiefs games dating back to last season, when the pop star first started showing up to support Travis Kelce. But now with Clark there too, it's double trouble for some. 

In her recent Time magazine Athlete of The Year Interview, Clark said, "As a White person, there is privilege."

The comment provoked backlash against the WNBA phenom. And some fans who tuned in Saturday expressed their displeasure, taking issue with Swift's past endorsement of Kamala Harris and other Democrats. 

USC'S JUJU WATKINS OPENS UP ON CAITLIN CLARK'S WHITE PRIVILEGE COMMENTS AND EMBRACING CONTROVERSIAL NEW FANS

Clark, a lifelong Chiefs fan, said in her interview with Time that Swift and Kelce extended an invitation to Clark when she attended a Swift Eras Tour concert at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis in early November. 

Clark was also recently pictured next to Swift on the cover of Time magazine's Inspiring Women special edition issue at the end of October.

Clark has said she is a lifelong Kansas City Chiefs fan. She congratulated Swift after the pop star went public with her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce in September 2023. 

"Taylor Swift welcome to the good side," Clark wrote Sept. 24, 2023, in a post on X with the hashtag "Chiefs Kingdom."

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Caitlin Clark has finally taken Taylor Swift up on an offer to watch a Kansas City Chiefs game together. 

Clark was seen in the same suite as Swift at Arrowhead Stadium during the Chiefs' divisional round playoff game against the Houston Texans Saturday. 

It is the first time that Clark and Swift have been seen at a game together, after Clark claims she was invited by Swift to join in earlier this season. 

Clark and Swift were also seen celebrating a touchdown by tight end and Swift's boyfriend Travis Kelce in the second half. 

Clark, a lifelong Chiefs fan, said in her interview for Time Magazine Athlete of The Year interview that Swift and Kelce extended the invitation to Clark when she went to watch Swift' Eras Tour concert at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis in early November. 

Clark said she'e see three of Swift's Eras Tour concerts, including two straight nights when Swift was in Indianapolis in November. While she was there, Clark said fans tossed her so many friendship bracelets that when she put them all on, it cut off her blood circulation. 

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"I had a ton, all the way up the arm. I had to take them off. My circulation was getting cut off," Clark said at the Women's Leadership Summit in November. "Everyone was just chucking their bracelets at me." 

At that summit, Clark also revealed that Swift is her favorite musical artist. 

Kelce said during an episode on his podcast, "New Heights," that he met Clark at one of those concerts. He later invited Clark on the podcast herself for a wide-ranging interview. 

Clark was also recently pictured next to Swift on the cover of Time Magazine's recent Inspiring Women special edition issue at the end of October. Clark and Swift were the only two figures on the top row, and Clark was the most highly placed athlete above veteran sports icons Serena Williams and Megan Rapinoe. 

USC'S JUJU WATKINS OPENS UP ON CAITLIN CLARK'S WHITE PRIVILEGE COMMENTS AND EMBRACING CONTROVERSIAL NEW FANS

The reemergence of a previous social media post by Clark while she was in college has also brought the fan bases of her closer figures together. 

"Taylor Swift welcome to the good side," Clark wrote Sept. 24, 2023, in a post on X right after Swift went public with her relationship with Kelce in September 2023. 

An influx of interest in Clark by Swift fans occurred after a controversial podcast episode that was conducted by Clark's arch-rival Angel Reese in October. 

Reese, who has played emotional, high-stakes games against Clark dating back to college and has made off-the-court comments about Clark's fans, hosted Kelce's ex-girlfriend Kayla Nicole, who is a promotional model, media personality, on-air host and entertainment journalist on Instagram.

During the appearance, Nicole claimed she has received hate for the relationship ever since Kelce began to date Swift instead of her. 

That interview ignited a widely debated controversy on social media, with some defending Nicole and sympathizing with her for the alleged hate she received. However, others, and many who openly identify as Swift fans, criticized Nicole and Reese for the interview. 

INSIDE CAITLIN CLARK AND ANGEL REESE'S IMPACT ON MEN'S BASKETBALL

Many of those same Swift fans declared themselves fans of Clark in response to Reese's interview. Clark and Reese have one of the hottest rivalries in women's sports at the moment, as their respective fan bases have been passionately opposed to each other for over a year.

Clark has also been linked to Swift's political beliefs. 

Earlier in Clark's rookie season, she liked Swift's Instagram post that announced the singer's endorsement of Kamala Harris on Sept. 10. 

However, Clark did not endorse a candidate herself when asked about liking Swift's endorsement of Harris. Clark instead responded with a message about the importance of telling people to vote. 

"I think, for myself, I have this amazing platform," she told reporters at an Indiana Fever team press conference on Sept. 11. "So, I think the biggest thing would be is to encourage people to register to vote. I think this is the second time I could vote in an election. That’s the biggest thing I can do with the platform that I have – the same thing Taylor did. 

"And I think, continue to educate yourself on the candidates that we have, policies that they’re supporting. I think that’s the biggest thing you can do. And that’s what I would recommend to every single person that has the opportunity in our country."

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A Texas man is under arrest for allegedly sending WNBA star Caitlin Clark threatening and sexually explicit messages before eventually driving to Indianapolis.

The post Caitlin Clark’s Alleged Stalker Arrested over Threatening, Sexual Messages appeared first on Breitbart.

A Texas man was arrested for allegedly stalking and sending sexually violent messages to Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark.

Michael Thomas Lewis, 55, was charged with stalking threatening sexual battery or death, FOX 59 reported, citing court documents. The charge is considered to be a Level 5 felony.

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Lewis allegedly sent Clark sexually violent messages through his X account. One message said he had been driving around her house multiple times and encouraged her "not to call the law just yet." He also allegedly spoke of going to a Fever game and sitting behind the bench.

Authorities talked to Lewis about the messages on Jan. 8, according to the station. He reportedly told authorities he was going to Indianapolis for vacation and downplayed the number of messages he sent to the WNBA sharpshooter.

Thomas told authorities the messages weren’t threatening and called it a "fantasy-type thing" and a "joke."

CAITLIN CLARK REVEALS 'WELCOME TO THE W' MOMENT WHEN SHE WAS INJURED EARLY IN 2024 SEASON

Clark reportedly alerted authorities to the messages and said she had become fearful over the words sent to her.

"t takes a lot of courage for women to come forward in these cases, which is why many don’t," Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said, via FOX 59. "In doing so, the victim is setting an example for all women who deserve to live and work in Indy without the threat of sexual violence."

The arrest of Lewis came nearly a month after an Oregon man pleaded guilty to stalking UConn Huskies women’s basketball star Paige Bueckers.

Robert Cole Parmalee, 40, was arrested in August and was found with an engagement ring and lingerie while walking near Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. He said he intended to marry Bueckers.

Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.

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Iowa University's women's basketball team and head coach Jan Jensen are going through their first season without star Caitlin Clark since 2019. 

The Hawkeyes are off to a 12-4 start and are ranked 23rd in the nation, but they've struggled with conference play in the first year of the newly-expanded Big 10, going just 2-3. 

Jensen addressed the team's "lack of senior leadership" to reporters after a loss to Illinois on Thursday — with the Hawkeyes having lost back-to-back conference games for the first time since Clark's freshman season — citing the youth of the current roster.

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"I can't afford to compare what has happened in the past, because these guys are giving me a lot and they're still young, and I have to develop a little bit of senior leadership or upperclassman leadership, because that is what we're missing," Jensen said. 

In four seasons at Iowa, Clark broke the NCAA's all-time scoring record among both men's and women's players, leading the team to the NCAA championship game twice. She was also a consensus National Player of the Year as a junior and senior.

FEVER MUST SIGN ‘ENFORCER’ TO ‘PROTECT’ CAITLIN CLARK, SAYS FORMER NBA ALL-STAR WHO'S BEEN ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ROLE

Clark was selected with the No. 1 pick in last year's WNBA Draft by the Indiana Fever after her Iowa career. 

As a WNBA rookie in 2024, Clark set records for the most points and 3-pointers by a rookie in league history, while also becoming the first rookie to record a triple-double, a feat she accomplished twice. Her 337 assists not only were the most by a rookie, they were the most by any player ever in a single season.

The Iowa women's basketball team announced it will have a ceremony to retire Clark's jersey on Feb. 2. 

Clark's No. 22, which she wears for the Fever, will hang from the rafters at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City after a ceremony honoring the program's most accomplished player. 

Clark is expected to be in attendance, and the event will be broadcast on FOX. 

Clark's jersey retirement will come just two months after Time magazine named her the publication's Athlete of the Year. The choice prompted praise, but also criticism from some, including Washington Mystics owner Sheila Johnson, who recently wondered in a CNN interview why Clark was tapped for the honor and not the entire WNBA. Johnson suggested it had to do with Clark's race. 

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Like many other young athletes from the Midwest, Caitlin Clark grew up in awe of Notre Dame sports. 

The WNBA phenom spoke about her experience visiting Notre Dame and consideration of playing for the Fighting Irish during an interview on the "New Heights" podcast on Thursday. 

"As a kid, you want to go to Notre Dame," Clark said. "It's like the coolest thing in the world, it's Notre Dame, it has that tradition." 

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Clark previously told ESPN that former Notre Dame women's basketball coach Muffet McGraw tried to recruit her and that Clark's own family also wanted her to play for the fighting Irish. 

"My family wanted me to go to Notre Dame," Caitlin said. "At the end of the day they were like, you make the decision for yourself. But it's NOTRE DAME! 'Rudy' was one of my favorite movies. How could you not pick Notre Dame?"

However, Clark said Thursday that she ultimately made the decision not to play there because of a feeling in her gut. 

CAITLIN CLARK BACKLASH TO WHITE PRIVILEGE REMARKS PROVES THERE'S 'ISSUES WITH RACE' IN US, WNBA GREAT SAYS

"I could feel it in my gut, I was like ‘ahh, I’m not supposed to go there,'" Clark said. 

Clark's gut feeling certainly did not steer her in the wrong direction. She ended up committing to her home state university of Iowa instead, where she played her entire four-year college career. Clark broke multiple program and NCAA records for the Hawkeyes, including the all-time leading scoring record among all college basketball players, men or women, in history. 

Clark also met her current boyfriend, Connor McCaffery, while at Iowa. McCaffery was a player on Iowa's men's basketball team for his father and head coach Fran McCaffery. 

Meanwhile, without Clark, Notre Dame fared okay, but not nearly as well as Iowa. Under the leadership of current head coach Niele Ivey, the Fighting Irish made the NCAA tournament three years in a row from 2021-24, but they lost in the regional semifinal all three times, while Clark led much deeper tournament runs in 2023 and 2024. 

Clark led Iowa to two straight national championship game appearances, en route to becoming the No. 1 overall selection by the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA Draft. McCaffery was already in Indiana working on the Pacers' coaching staff, and they are still in the city together as he now works on Butler's men's basketball coaching staff. 

Clark was named WNBA Rookie of the Year, was selected to the All-Star team, led the WNBA in assists, and helped lead the Fever to the playoffs in her rookie season. 

Clark was also named Time magazine’s Athlete of the Year for 2024. 

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Caitlin Clark’s WNBA rookie season was one for the record books, but she also remembers the moment when she knew she was in pro ball. 

Her "welcome to the WNBA" moment. 

Clark appeared on the latest "New Heights" podcast with Travis and Jason Kelce and was asked about the moment when she was welcomed by fellow WNBA players. 

She knew the answer right away. 

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"Somebody set a screen on me, and I hit my ear just perfect on the girl where my eardrum popped. And it ruptured," Clark said of her Fever game against the New York Liberty June 2. "I knew it right away because I’ve done it before [while tubing in a lake]. It hurts so bad. … That was my welcome to the W moment."

Clark said while her ear didn’t bleed, her hearing wasn’t the same for a few weeks. 

"It takes months to heal," Clark added. "So, after the season, the doctor had to go back and forth and see if it closed. And if it doesn’t close, you have to have a minor procedure. But, lucky enough, it did close. So, I was fine." 

The 104-68 beatdown by the Liberty against the Fever was Clark’s 11th game of her rookie season.

The injury occurred in the fourth quarter of the blowout, and Clark got attention from trainers on the bench before needing to walk back to the locker room at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. 

Clark missed the rest of the game. 

"I don’t wanna explain it. It’d probably be pretty gross. But, no, I feel fine," Clark told reporters at the time of the injury. "I can’t hear great out of one of my ears."

The injury didn't prevent Clark from breaking a number of records, including most assists in a season. 

Clark was named Time's Athlete of the Year and the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year. She was also named a WNBA All-Star for the first time. 

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From being a senior in college and the star of the Iowa women’s basketball team that went to the national championship, to then being drafted right after and jumping into the WNBA season, a lot has happened in the life of Caitlin Clark in the past year.

The Indiana Fever star was left off the Olympic women’s basketball roster this past summer, a decision that sparked a lot of debate, but Clark said the break during the WNBA season due to the 2024 Paris Games was needed.

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"We had the Olympic break, so I got a month off in the middle of the season because we had to pause the WNBA season because, you know, the 12 girls go and play in the Olympics. And everybody else, you’re not doing much, so [I] got like a month off, which I really needed, obviously, because I’ve been playing basketball for just a year straight," Clark said during a recent appearance on "New Heights."

The Fever started out 1-8 but rallied to finish 20-20 to make the playoffs. A big reason for the Fever’s late-season push was the improved play of Clark after the break.

Prior to the Olympic break, she was averaging 17.1 points per game. Following the break, she looked rejuvenated, averaging 23.1 points per game down the stretch. 

Jason Kelce asked how Clark would define her whirlwind of a year in just two words.  

CAITLIN CLARK SAYS SHE FIRST STARTED RECEIVING COLLEGE RECRUITMENT LETTERS IN 7TH GRADE

"I would say, like, I don’t know, life-changing maybe? All in a good way, like, I mean, things just change really fast, as you guys know. That’s just how the world works and, especially with social media, people see a lot of your life, but that’s what makes it fun and why I’ve had so many cool opportunities, too. So, it’s crazy, like looking back at a year ago today or around this time, like, I was just beginning my senior year at college," Clark said.

"And obviously, you know, people knew who we were, and people attended our games, but it’s obviously not on the magnitude that it is now. So, like, life just changes fast, but that’s what makes it fun and cool and, you know, quickly started a new chapter of my life, too. Like moving here to Indianapolis, and feel lucky I’m still in the Midwest. I know you [Jason and Travis Kelce] like the Midwest."

Clark said she is looking forward to being able to have more of a routine in her second season with the Fever after the quick transition from college basketball in the WNBA.

HOW CAITLIN CLARK BATTLED THROUGH CULTURE WARS EN ROUTE TO HISTORIC 2024

"Yeah, for sure, I mean it’s just so unlike any other professional sport, really, from the standpoint of, so I played in the national championship, and I basically went to the draft right after, got picked, and then you basically pack up and move. Like, you’re moving in April, you don’t even finish senior year of college," Clark said.

"And I guess for you guys, what was it, you go to the [NFL] combine, how long do you have to prepare for the combine, two months? And then you get drafted, and you still got a little time to get acclimated to the new city, you have camp, whatever. It’s not like that, like camp for us is like a week and a half."

But Clark also said there was a benefit to things moving so quickly.

"I think it was good a little bit, too, like you don’t have time to overthink things, like it’s just like, boom, boom, boom, boom, like you’re just onto the next. But at the same time, you don’t, like, I feel like I never really ended the chapter of college. It was just like you up and left, but maybe that’s good. You don’t have a lot of time to think about it, so I think that’s definitely the weirdest part of, you know, women’s professional basketball and obviously college basketball, too, is just that change," Clark said.

Despite the quick transition into the WNBA, Clark still excelled. 

She won the WNBA Rookie of the Year, was named an All-Star and led the WNBA in assists while also setting a record for most assists in a season with 337.

Clark set the rookie record for most total points scored in a season with 769, and she drained 122 3-pointers in her season, which is the second most in a single season in WNBA history.

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