What's next for Caitlin Clark? 'I'm just scratching the surface,' but also some golf.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Caitlin Clark sees some golfing in her near future. Before it gets too cold. at least.
Clark's near year-long undertaking of high-level basketball came to an end Wednesday night after the Fever fell to the Connecticut Sun, 87-81, in Game 2 to be eliminated from the WNBA playoffs.
Now, she can relax. She doesn't have to think about what's coming up.
"I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow, I don't know what I'm going to do the next day," Clark said. "Maybe play some golf. That's what I'm gonna do until it gets too cold in Indiana. I'll become a professional golfer."
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Well, maybe not entirely.
"Not too much, babe," Aliyah Boston said to Clark's golf comments. "Keep it to basketball."
Clark told the ESPN broadcast Wednesday she is not planning to play a season overseas in the WNBA offseason. There are other options stateside, including 5-on-5 league Athletes Unlimited and new 3x3 league Unrivaled, but Clark hasn't said if she will be participating in any of those.
So, this upcoming offseason will now be the first time in nearly a year that Clark will not have to think about basketball, day-in and day-out. Clark started practice for her senior season with Iowa around this time last year, played her first scrimmage in October 2023, and hasn't stopped playing since.
She went from a 39-game college schedule, which stretched from October-April, to WNBA training camp in April, and a full, 40-game WNBA season, as well as two playoff games, from May-September.
It's a grueling schedule for Clark, for all rookies coming straight out of a college season.
Still, she managed to have a historic year. Starting all 42 games for the Fever, Clark led the league in assists with 8.4 per game, and she was top-10 in scoring at 19.2 points per game. She broke both the rookie and the league single-season assists record, as well as the rookie scoring record, and was the first rookie to record a triple-double (she did it twice). After a 1-8 start, she led the Fever to finish 20-20 and clinch their first playoff berth in eight years.
"I feel like I had a solid year," Clark said when asked how she would rate her rookie season. "But for me, the fun part is I feel like I'm just scratching the surface, and I'm one that's nitpicking every single thing I do, and I want to help this franchise get even better. Help my teammates get even better. Be better for my teammates. And I know there's a lot of room for me to continue to improve. So that's what excites me the most."
As a 22-year-old just four months out of college, it's a lot to take in. And it will take her a while to process the whirlwind of a year she has been on.
"There were a lot of things that this group accomplished that, you know, a lot of people probably didn't think was possible, one to start the season, and two, after the start we had to the season," Clark said. "It'll definitely be probably a little weird for me over the course of the first couple weeks."
But she can't stay away from basketball for long.
"I'm sure I'll get bored and pick up a basketball again."
Follow IndyStar Fever Insider Chloe Peterson on X at @chloepeterson67.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Caitlin Clark to get some rest, play golf after Indiana Fever season