Caitlin Clark is leaving no stone unturned ahead of her sophomore season.
The 2024 No. 1 overall pick smashed expectations — and records — during her rookie season in the WNBA this year, raining down a record amount of 3s en route to the Rookie of the Year award.
But for all Clark’s individual success, her Indiana Fever team ultimately failed to win the big prize, a WNBA championship, coming up short in the first round of the playoffs against a superior Connecticut Sun.
Despite it being the offseason, Clark is already back in the lab, getting in reps that both she — and the Fever — will hope can power the team to a WNBA title.
The Fever recently posted a video of Clark and her new head coach, Stephanie White, along with assistants Karima Christmas-Kelly and Austin Kelly, working out in the Fever’s practice facility.
The 22-year-old sharpshooter worked on various elements of her game, both offensively and defensively.
However, one particularly part of the workout stood out as Clark made a concerted effort to put up more midrange shots — an aspect of her game she singled out as an area to improve this offseason.
In the Fever’s video, Clark worked on a range midrange shots, floaters, as well as finishing at the rim through her left hand — something she struggled with throughout her rookie season.
WNBA fans reacted to the footage, also suggesting Clark has bulked up this winter and added more muscle to her usually slender frame.
“I see that floater is getting incorporated [fire emoji],” one fan commented on X.
“The LEAGUE isn’t ready for what comes next!!!!!!!!! I am soooo freaking hyped for next season,” another added.
“The best is getting better! That is scary! Watch out,” a third posted.
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“I think it’s safe to say Caitlin Clark has put on some muscle,” a fourth remarked.
“She’s not going to be bullied around this season [flexed bicep emoji],” a fifth posted.
This is the first time in a while Clark has been able to work on her game, having gone from her senior season in college at Iowa to her rookie year in Indiana in just a couple of months.
She has seven months of an offseason this year to work on her game before the 2025 WNBA season gets underway in May.
Her decision not to play in new 3-vs-3 basketball league Unrivaled in January with some of her fellow WNBA stars will also give her time to train.
Clark’s meteoric rise in 2024 has brought unprecedented levels of interest to women’s basketball, and saw her named Time Magazine’s 2024 Athlete of the Year.
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Ticket and jersey sales, home attendances, social media engagement, and TV viewership went through the roof last season as the ‘Steph Curry of women’s basketball’ set the WNBA and Indiana Fever records for most assists in a regular season, most points scored by a rookie in a regular season, and most 3-point field goals made by a rookie.
Clark’s preparation for the new season was interrupted by a major coaching change.
The Fever recently parted ways with head coach Christie Sides after Sides went 33-47 in her two seasons with the team, including 20-20 last season as she steered Indy to the playoffs for the first time in eight years.
She was replaced by White, the 2023 WNBA Coach of the Year who grew up in Indiana, won an NCAA championship at Purdue, played for the Fever wearing Clark’s No. 22, and was previously in the Indy hot-seat in 2015 and 2016.
The former pro-turned-coach joined Connecticut in 2023 after five years at the helm at Vanderbilt, and recently led the Sun to back-to-back trips to the WNBA semifinals.
Clark was recently asked about White, who previously worked as an ESPN analyst and covered plenty of Hawkeyes games.
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“She’s obviously called a lot of my games all throughout college, and I think she has a really great basketball mind,” Clark said.
“I think she’s done a great job calling college games, it’s been great to see her on NBA games. I think what she’s done is just, she obviously has been a trailblazer, honestly. I think she’s somebody who’s been supportive of my game, and it’s been fun to talk to her at shootarounds throughout my college career and has always been really supportive.
“Yeah, so I think the biggest thing is it’s fun going up against her here now for my first time after her calling a lot of my games. Now I get to play against her, so that’s going to be a lot of fun for the both of us.”
The WNBA’s regular season tips off on May 16, 2025. White’s first game as Fever head coach will come on May 17, when Indiana hosts the Chicago Sky and Clark’s longtime rival, Angel Reese.