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Caitlin Clark's transition to the WNBA came with challenges that almost every rookie entering the league experiences. There is more pace, the defenses are smarter and every possession demands a different level of decision-making than college basketball.
For CC, though, the adjustments came under far brighter lights than most No. 1 picks ever see.
After four historic seasons at Iowa, the Indiana Fever selected her with the first overall pick in 2024. She left college as the NCAA's all-time leading scorer with 3,951 points, averaging 28.4 points and 8.2 assists in 139 games. She also became the face of a surge in popularity for women's CBB before bringing the same attention to the WNBA.
Despite becoming one of the faces of the league, Clark once admitted that there is one part of the game she could see herself returning to one day and it has nothing to do with playing.
Clark believes coaching could be part of her future
During an appearance on Sue Bird's "Bird's Eye View" podcast in August 2025, Clark and the four-time WNBA champion discussed the biggest difference between reading defenses in college and doing the same in the WNBA.
The conversation eventually shifted towards Clark revealing she could see herself on the sidelines after her playing career ends.
"Honestly, I might go back at one point in my life and coach college basketball," Clark said.
The idea isn't blown out of proportion, considering how CC has always looked at the game. While most fans see her for shooting well beyond the 3-point line, her ability to process defenses has been just as important throughout her career.
Whether it was running Iowa's offense or distracting opponents with the Fever, Caitlin has consistently stayed one step ahead of the defenders. She has also carried some of that understanding to the pros, averaging 8.3 assists in the regular season. Some of her playmaking has even made defenses plan rough plays against her.
She has the basketball IQ that could naturally lead her to coaching conversations. Players who understand the game at this level often find themselves in a good position to coach once their playing days are over.
The WNBA forced Clark to see the game differently
Clark further explained during the podcast that one of the biggest adjustments after leaving Iowa was learning how differently the defenses work in the WNBA. In college, she became comfortable attacking the same coverage year after year.
Once she reached the pros, many of those easy reads disappeared.
"In college, I feel like all I saw was drop. I rarely saw a show, and if we saw a show, we ran this one play, it's called 'C,' it's engraved in my brain," Clark explained. "I acted like I was coming off a ball screen. We got the post player to kind of show out. I would immediately dribble back to my right… We just continued to run it for four years straight. Literally no one could catch on. Professionally? That doesn't work."
When she entered the league, she used to wonder why defenders in college rarely pressured her the same way. That made her realize that professional athletes are hungrier, recover faster, communicate better and understand her actions much earlier than what she regularly faced at Iowa.
What she saw in college was mostly drop coverages, where defenders stay closer to the basket, allowing the ball-handler some space while protecting the paint. The WNBA was more about show coverages that ask the defender to step up toward the screen before recovering, forcing the ball-handler to make quicker decisions.
CC had to broaden her horizon in terms of reading the game because the counters that worked throughout college no longer created the same space.
Even then, adapting has never been the difficult part for the Indiana Fever star.
Whether coaching eventually becomes a reality is something only Clark can answer, but considering how the WNBA world praises her communication and leadership, it isn't difficult to understand why she believes college basketball coaching could be her next calling.
