Caitlin Clark’s exclusion from the Team USA women’s basketball roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics was a source of constant debate when the American roster was revealed in June, and only intensified in the weeks after, when Clark’s play during her rookie season with the WNBA’s Indiana Fever improved considerably.

On the eve of Team USA’s first game of the Olympics on Monday against Japan, there has been at least some indication that there might be regret over that much-discussed decision.

While appearing on NBC on Sunday as part of the network’s basketball coverage at the Games, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley — a member of the selection committee that constructed the 12-player Team USA roster — said Clark would have been under “really high consideration” to make the team “if we had to do it all over again.”

“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 and wasn’t playing bad, but wasn’t playing like she’s playing now.”

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When the Team USA roster was unveiled on June 11, Clark was just 13 games into her WNBA career. While the former two-time national college player of the year at Iowa had shown the occasional flashes of brilliance that had made her the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft (and a subject of such intense national interest), she had struggled in particular facets of the game, averaging 5.4 turnovers per game while shooting just 33% from 3-point range, the latter of which was a relatively low mark for a player with a reputation as a sharpshooter.

In the weeks that followed, Clark, like many talented rookies, grew increasingly comfortable, with her numbers backing that up. She’s currently leading all WNBA players in assists per game, with 8.2, and played a role in helping lead the WNBA All-Stars to a 117-109 victory against Team USA in the WNBA All-Star Game on July 20, dishing out a game-high 10 assists in the win.

“She’s playing head and shoulders above a lot of people,” Staley said. “She’s shooting the ball extremely well. She’s an elite passer. She’s just got a great basketball IQ. And she’s a little more seasoned in the pro game than she was two months ago.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dawn Staley: Caitlin Clark would be in 'high consideration' for Olympics now