Taking Sue Bird Back in Time, Caitlin Clark Credits Proud Father for Exceptional Success

The Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark has grabbed eyeballs with her on-court brilliance. And therefore she has been the talk of the town for quite some time. The 22-year-old was recently invited to ‘Sue Place’s’ to discuss her life and balling talent. And what Clark revealed next was just priceless.

While on the show, Clark told Sue Bird that, “I first became comfortable (talking about her deep threes) honestly when I got into college.” Bird questioned her back if Clark changed anything about her game when ‘extending her range,’ and Clark’s reply traced back to her roots as a young athlete.

What did Clark say?

Bird was present at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena with Clark and the latter credited her father for her exemplary success. It gave viewers a glimpse of how a supportive family had laid the foundation for Clark’s success in the game. “My form has always been my form. It’s like always been the same and I give a lot of credit to my dad. He was my first ever basketball coach but he was the guy that would never let me shoot threes when I was a young kid cause he knew my form would be awful,” Clark disclosed.

She went ahead to remark that “I always wanted to go out there and start chucking threes up cause I had an older brother and I would go to all their practices and like that’s what they would do so I thought I could do that but I was tiny, I couldn’t get it there so my dad was like ‘just stay around the rim.’ That was always super important just form shooting. I probably didn’t like it at the time and I was mad at him about it but looking back like shooting for fundamentals are like the best thing.”

Clark’s father Brent Clark used to play baseball and basketball during his time at the Simpson College. He also coached a young Catilin for a youth team. By the age of 5, the Hawkeyes star had started competing in recreational leagues with the boys since her father could not find one of her age that was inclusive of her gender. Clark also played a variety of sports including softball, volleyball, soccer, tennis, and golf. But decided to concentrate on her balling skills as she grew up.

Clark then joined the girls’ league where the players were older than her in age since she had developed exceptional talent by then. The Des Moines-born joined the AAU program All Iowa Attack in her sixth grade. Clark’s journey has been nothing short of historic since then. As for her father, Brent currently works in sales at Concentric International.

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Meanwhile, she also has an elder brother Blake who plies his trade for the Iowa State in the capacity of a quarterback. Meanwhile, Caitlin has ruffled some numbers and is in the process of creating history.

Which record is Clark close to?

Clark has come a long way in her journey. She is only 8 points away from taking over the Washington Huskies guard Kelsey Plum’s record as the leading NCAA women’s basketball scorer. The Iowa will next take court against the Michigan Wolverines and Clark is expected to register the record then. 

If Clark edges past the magic number, then it would be a fitting tribute to her father who has helped her be the player she is. And since the game will be at her home, hopefully, her family will be present to enjoy the contest.

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