The LuLac Edition #5, 095, April 16th, 2024

 

MAYBE I’M AMAZED

Our “Maybe I’m Amazed” logo.

Caitlin Clark Edition

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…. that winning awards and braking records is nothing new for Caitlin Clark at the youth international level, Clark has won three gold medals with the United States, including two at the FIBA Under-19 Women's World Cup, where she was named Most Valuable Player in 2021. During her college career, she helped popularize women's basketball, with her games surpassing attendance and television viewership records for the sport.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…. Clark began her basketball career. She started playing basketball at age five and competed in boys' recreational leagues, because her father could not find a girls' league for her age group.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…. that Clark also played softball, volleyball, soccer, tennis, and golf as a child before focusing on basketball. At age 13, she began playing several years ahead of her age group in girls' leagues.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…. that at age 13, she began playing several years ahead of her age group in girls' leagues. In sixth grade, Clark joined All Iowa Attack, an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball program based in Ames, Iowa, for whom she played until graduating from high school.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that as a first-year student Clark played four years of varsity basketball for Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines under head coach Kristin Meyer.[11] As a first-year student, she averaged 15.3 points, 4.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game. She earned Class 5A All-State third-team accolades from the Iowa Newspaper Association and All-Iowa honorable mention from The Des Moines Register.[n 1][14][15] Clark led her team to a 19–5 record and the Class 5A state tournament, where they lost to eventual champions Valley High School in the first round.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…. flashing forward here that on February 4, 2019, during her junior season, Clark scored 60 points in a 90–78 win against Mason City High School. Her 60-point game was the second-highest single-game point total in Iowa five-on-five girls' basketball history, surpassed only by Abby Roe in 1996. She also set the state single-game record with 13 three-pointer.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that Clark’s path to Iowa was not the traditional recruitment process. First off, she was wooed by backers in her senior year. Clark was recruited by NCAA Division I basketball programs before starting high school, receiving her first letter of interest from Missouri State before seventh grade. By her sophomore season at Dowling Catholic, she was ranked the number one player in the 2020 high school class by ESPN. At the end of her high school career, Clark was considered a five-star recruit and the fourth-best player in her class by ESP. Clark’s family had wanted her to choose Notre Dame, and she made a verbal commitment to the school's then-head coach Muffet McGraw. However, Clark never signed a National Letter of Intent with the school, and soon reconsidered, announcing on November 12, 2019, that she would commit to play college basketball for Iowa over offers from Iowa State and Notre Dame. Clark was drawn to the team's up-tempo style of offense and head coach Lisa Bluder's development of point guards. She also expected to immediately have a key role on the team with the departure of Kathleen Doyle, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…. but not really that Clark comes from a truly athletic family. It is in the genes with this group. Clark's father, Brent Clark, is a sales executive at Concentric International and played basketball and baseball at Simpson College. Her mother, Anne Nizzi-Clark, who is of Italian descent, is a former marketing executive and the daughter of former Dowling Catholic High School football coach Bob Nizzi. She has an older brother, Blake, who played college football for Iowa State, and a younger brother, Colin. Her cousin, Audrey Faber, played college basketball for Creighton. Two of Clark's uncles are former college athletes: Tom Faber played basketball for Drake and Utica, and Mike Nizzi played football for Nebraska–Omaha. She is in a relationship with Connor McCaffery, who played basketball and baseball for Iowa and is the son of Hawkeyes men's basketball head coach Fran McCaffery.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…. that Clark is an avid golfer, having played the sport since her childhood. In July 2023, she played in the John Deere Classic Pro-Am at TPC Deere Run alongside professional golfers Zach Johnson and Ludvig Åberg.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that Clark’s destiny was determined by a series of factors that enhanced her hard work ethic. The genes, a supportive family, a group of mentors that were looking for her best interests yet allowing her to make her own decisions as well as her obvious y talent. All of that has made her into a cultural icon not seen since Tiger Woods’ early days. Plus, she has poise exhibited after Iowa’s defeat as well as on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update segment.

MAYBE I'M AMAZED....that Clark was the first pick of the WNBA draft and will be the main reason many, many guys who never wanted the WNBA will start doing so now. (LuLac, Wikipedia)