Will Caitlin Clark make Olympic team? Her focus is on Final Four while Team USA gathers

CLEVELAND — When Caitlin Clark got an invite to USA Basketball’s training camp taking place during the Final Four this weekend, the two-time national player of the year put herself down as a tentative yes.

But as it turns out, Clark is a little busy.

While 13 WNBA players mill around Cleveland and practice three days this week, Clark and her Iowa teammates are prepping for a national semifinal game against UConn, set for tipoff at 9 p.m. ET on Friday.

“Anytime you're invited to do anything for USA Basketball, it's a tremendous honor,” Clark said. “For me it was a win-win, either doing that or this. Obviously this was where my focus was. I wanted to get back to the Final Four with this group.”

So what does this mean for Clark and the Olympic team?

Less than two weeks ago, Clark was added to the Olympic pool, the only current college player to get the nod. Typically, players who make the final 12-athlete roster have participated in training camps in the lead-up to the Olympics. But according to USAB selection procedures, attending training camp is not a hard requirement, which means Clark is still eligible to make the Paris roster.

USAB does not have more training camps scheduled before they leave for Paris, and there is only one exhibition, against this summer's WNBA All-Stars, that would allow Clark to get her feet wet with the senior national team (she does have previous USAB experience, having won three gold medals with junior teams).

But there is precedent for newcomers being thrown into the deep end: Diana Taurasi, who’s expected to make the 2024 roster, played with the senior national team after the 2004 Final Four her senior year at UConn — like right after. As in 48 hours.

Taurasi fit in immediately, averaging 9.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the USA’s three exhibition games. She played in all eight games at the 2004 Athens Olympics, scoring 8.5 points per game.

Regardless of whether Clark’s career ends Friday in the semifinal or Sunday in the national championship, she’ll be drafted April 15, projected as the No. 1 overall pick to the Indiana Fever. The WNBA schedule will pause for its Olympic break July 21-Aug. 14.

Clark, who mentioned Thursday that there are “so many (off-court) distractions” at the Final Four, said she hasn’t talked to anybody involved with USAB about if, and how, she might make the final Paris roster. But she emphasized that she knows how the USAB system works.

“I have people that (talk) for me,” Clark said, smiling. “I think growing up, your dream is always to be on the national team and play for the national team. A lot of those players that are in that pool (now) are my idols. Those are people I grew up watching and wanting to be like."

And as of right now, it sounds like it's still within the realm of possibility for Clark to be that idol for someone else this summer.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Caitlin Clark focuses on Final Four; Olympic questions on backburner