USA women's basketball selection committee chair Jen Rizzotti said that popularity did not come into play when deciding whether Caitlin Clark would make the Olympic team.
The USA Basketball staff knew what kind of backlash they would get if they had not included Caitlin Clark on the Olympic roster. Well, they made the decision to leave the No. 1 overall pick off, and the noise has been loud. Clark herself said that 'they woke a monster,' and it remains a debate on whether she was snubbed or not. However, the organization feels that, simply, Clark isn't one of the 12 best players to represent the United States.
Of course, the eyeballs Clark brings are unprecedented in the women's game — she was the star of the four most-watched women's college basketball games ever, three of which came in this past March Madness tournament. Attendance and ratings for her games also don't even compare to others'. However, USA basketball only cares about winning, not popularity, and they simply feel that Clark would not help them.
It's unknown how far Clark got in the running, but the evaluation seemed thorough. 'Here’s the basketball criteria that we were given as a committee and how do we evaluate our players based on that?' Rizzotti said. 'And when you base your decision on criteria, there were other players that were harder to cut because they checked a lot more boxes. Then sometimes it comes down to position, style of play for Cheryl and then sometimes a vote.' Clark is averaging 16.
Clark has two 30-point games under her belt, including a historic performance on Friday, where she tied a WNBA rookie record with seven three-pointers in an 85-83 win over the Washington Mystics. She also was the second rookie ever to have a 30-5-5 line in a game. Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
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