Dawn Staley says the USA Olympic Basketball selection committee erred in not choosing WNBA phenom Caitlin Clark for Team USA.
Clark, 22, fueled record-breaking ticket sales, and smashed television ratings across all networks.
The TV ratings for the 2024 Paris Olympics are the lowest ever in the modern era.
South Carolina head coach and Olympic committee member Dawn Staley said Sunday that Clark’s recent play proved she should be a member of the Olympic women’s basketball team.
Clark was the most high-profile snub when the women’s team was announced on June 11.
The Indiana Fever rookie and overall No. 1 WNBA Draft pick lived up to her hype during the first half of the WNBA season.
Clark became the first rookie in league history to score a triple-double, and she leads all rookies in scoring assists.
Dawn Staley and Team USA coach Cheryl Reeve were heavily criticized for not selecting Clark for the Olympics.
Reeve, who is head coach of the Minnesota Lynx, claimed Clark wasn’t experienced enough for the Olympics.
But college athletes and amatuers have always played in the Olympic Games. Professional athletes were not allowed to participate in the Olympics until the 1980s.
Just a reminder, in the 3 Olympic years where the NCAA player of the year was a senior (Taurasi, Parker and Stewart) they were chosen to play on the Olympic team having played ZERO WNBA games.
— Rich F (@RichFGeorgia) July 28, 2024
Staley, 54, now admits she was wrong, and she should have considered Clark for Team USA.
“As a committee member, you’re charged with putting together the best team of players, the best talent,” Staley said in an interview with NBC’s Mike Tirico.
“Caitlin is just a rookie in the WNBA, wasn’t playing bad, but wasn’t playing like she’s playing now. If we had to do it all over again, the way that she’s playing, she would be in really high consideration of making the team because she is playing head and shoulders above a lot of people.”
Staley added: “Shooting the ball extremely well, I mean she is an elite passer, she’s just got a great basketball IQ and she’s a little more seasoned in the pro game in a couple of months than she was two months ago.”
Dawn Staley, a member of the USWNT selection committee, asked about Caitlin Clark.
“If we had to do it all over again, the way that she’s playing, she would be in really high consideration of making the team because she is playing head and shoulders above a lot of people.” pic.twitter.com/hMYqTsPWzc
— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) July 28, 2024
Her legacy will end up being that they selected others instead of the most explosive player in the WNBA.
— Phill (@elecsubops) July 28, 2024
Takes a lot to admit when you’ve misjudged, Dawn always setting the bar on how to conduct yourself as a pro ??
— Justin (@justinbrosemer) July 28, 2024
