Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark has been a competitor since early days on youth soccer field

Clark’s drive was evident long before she became the hottest name in college basketball

DES MOINES, IOWA - Before Caitlin Clark became the NCAA record setter, the advertising goldmine and the most exciting women’s basketball player on the court, she was simply Caitlin. 

Caitlin the soccer player. The competitive kid. The athlete willing to try her hand at a variety of sports.

To understand who the Iowa basketball star – who will play for the Hawkeyes in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday night against UT-Martin/Holy Cross – you have to go back to her childhood.

Clark has scored an NCAA Division I record 3,771 points. She’s earned multiple All-American honors and was named the Naismith Women’s National Player of the Year. Her long-range 3-point baskets and dazzling passes have drawn celebrity fans like hip-hop performer Travis Scott and Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan.

When Lily Overstreet, a former youth soccer teammate who grew up in the Des Moines area, watches Clark launch buzzer-beating baskets on TV, her mind flashes back to when they were 11-year-olds.

“She was very intense, a fierce competitor,” Overstreet said. “Even from an early age, she would do what it took to win. You always wanted to be on her team.”

Overstreet and Clark were teammates from 11U to 14U. Clark played for two seasons at West Des Moines Dowling Catholic High School before concentrating on basketball. Overstreet now plays soccer at Drake University in Des Moines.

Caitlin Clark (pictured in the middle of the back row) starred in soccer at an early age as she tried many sports and activities including basketball. (Submitted photo)

Clark was the type of player that would do whatever she needed to do to help her team. As an 11-year-old, the keeper on her club team was injured during a match and couldn’t play. Clark switched out her jersey and stepped into the goal – even though her role had been as a scorer and playmaker.

Even in an unnatural position, Clark fit in, arms outreached and shifting her body back and forth in goal to keep the opponents from scoring. Inexperienced, but naturally skilled beyond her years.

“She kind of looked like Spider-Man in the net,” Overstreet said.

Clark played a key role in the match and her team won.

Watch Clark on the TV screen and you’ll see an athlete who is loaded with confidence and wants to win. Part of that desire comes from her parents and extended family. Both dad Brent and mom Anne were good athletes; Brent is a member of the Simpson (Iowa) College athletic Hall of Fame in basketball and baseball. Her cousin Audrey Faber was a basketball star at Creighton. Grandfather Bob Nizzi was a football coach.

That desire to compete was fed to her.

“It probably comes from both of our families,” Brent Clark said.

Even during holiday “white elephant” gift exchanges, family members would argue and shout over wrapped packages.

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Clark dominated the Candy Land board games with an intense attitude.

“She’s always been very driven, whether it be academics or athletics,” Brent Clark said.

Brent Clark said any concept of the family forcing to concentrate on basketball is wrong.

“I think they think I was like a drill sergeant with her, and that’s the furthest thing from the truth,” Brent Clark said.

Her parents let her try a variety of activities, whatever interested her at the moment: Volleyball, track, softball, tennis, soccer and piano.

“She got exposed to trying different things,” Brent Clark said. “You let them find their love.”

Many of the skills that she exemplifies today – the fiery competitiveness, the court sense and cool headedness – were developed in youth sports.

Ross Moffat, one of Clark’s soccer youth coaches from 11U to 14U, said the youngster was an uncommon type for her age. Her fearlessness now – aiming long-distance shots from the Carver-Hawkeye Arena court logo toward the basket – was evident back then.

Caitlin Clark showed unusual leg strength as a young player, shooting shots from 30 yards from the goal. (Photo submitted)

Clark used to kick the soccer ball toward the goal from 30 yards out as a girl, when none of her teammates would have the leg strength or the drive to attempt it.

She led Dowling’s soccer team in scoring both her freshman and sophomore seasons, recording 23 and 19 goals before concentrating on basketball.

“She was a scorer, the same way she is in basketball,” Moffat said. “The greatest thing she had was her ability to improvise and be creative.”

Clark found her way to successful programs. A team photo of her West Des Moines Soccer Club shows an 11-year-old Clark, wearing a tournament medal around her neck, her smile beaming.

Over the years, the color, style and size of the jerseys would change. But the team success, and the desire to win, never did.

Soccer and basketball share some attributes that Clark mastered. If you watched her play soccer as a child, you’d see similar playmaking skills compared to basketball. That’s true when it comes to passing. Clark has the innate ability to view the basketball court and the soccer field, anticipating what direction a teammate is moving, and to get her the ball in a good scoring position.

Clark has a mental mix of the positive elements of competitiveness – intensity, leadership and desire – blended with a mindfulness and focus of someone who can keep things in perspective.

That yin and yang balance creates a platform for success.

Caitlin Clark's dad Brent (right) said he never pushed his daughter but she had the drive to compete in different sports at a young age. (USA Today photo)

In youth soccer, Overstreet said, that’s often a learning curve for athletes. They may be too intense and become difficult teammates. They may be too relaxed and become overpowered by more aggressive athletes.

Clark picked up that ability during her early days.

“It was one of her many attributes to becoming the player she is today,” Overstreet said.

Although she had a big desire to win, she never let her temper get the best of her, according to Moffat. He said he couldn’t recall a situation in which Clark drew a red card for her behavior.

Clark possesses a star athlete’s ability to play her greatest when the pressure to perform is at its zenith. Imagine Michael Jordan driving to the hoop in the NBA Finals, Tiger Woods putting at the Masters or Serena Williams slamming a serve at Wimbledon.

“The higher the pressure, the more she thrived,” said Moffat, who is currently director of player and coach development for Sporting Iowa. “She thrived in the competitive cauldron. The bigger the stage, the more she came out.”

Caitlin Clark's stardom has made her a natural for endorsement deals. (USA Today photo)

Clark averaged 33.7 points a game during her senior year at Dowling. She scored 40 in her final game, a regional final loss to Sioux City East.

She finished her career with 2,547 points, which ranks fifth on Iowa’s all-time career scoring list.

While Clark won the highest of Iowa’s high school basketball honors, including Miss Iowa Basketball, a state championship eluded her.

Dowling reached the state tournament three times (2017-19) when Clark played for the Maroons. As a freshman, her team lost to state champ West Des Moines Valley in a Class 5A quarterfinal. As a sophomore, the team fell to state champ Iowa City West in a quarterfinal. The Maroons reached the state semifinals during her junior year, losing to Southeast Polk.

Clark’s abilities to score from anywhere on the court and pass the ball better than anyone in high school were highly visible at Dowling.

As Clark climbed the NCAA women’s scoring ladder, her pursuit drew comparisons to the men’s scoring leader, Pete Maravich.

Maravich poured in 3,667 points in three seasons from 1967-70, when basketball players couldn’t play varsity ball as freshmen and there was no 3-point line.

Clark has been compared by some to Maravich due to her playmaking, scoring and the way she’s created excitement among fans.

Darrel Campbell, a biographer and friend of Pete Maravich, said she possesses the three D’s: Desire, dedication and discipline.

“My buddies and I all wanted to be Pete Maravich growing up,” Campbell said.

Like Maravich, Clark is inspiring young athletes to play basketball.

Campbell co-wrote the script for the 1991 movie “The Pistol: The Birth of a Legend” with Maravich. The film portrays a young Maravich pursuing his athletic dreams.

Clark and Pete both affected the college game.

“She’s packing the house, just like Pete,” Campbell said.

Campbell said Clark has that supreme confidence in her shot that Maravich had.

“It looks like every shot’s going to go in,” Campbell said.

In her home state, Clark has become the focus of media and fan attention not seen in women’s sports since 2008, when gymnast Shawn Johnson won an Olympic gold medal in the balance beam and helped Team USA to a silver.

Caitlin Clark and Iowa are trying to return to the Final Four for the second straight season. (USA Today photo)

Businesses such as Iowa-based grocery chain Hy-Vee, State Farm Insurance, Nike and Gatorade have all signed on Clark in advertising campaigns. Retailers like Scheels are selling Clark’s No. 22 jersey at its West Des Moines store in Jordan Creek Town Center, Iowa’s largest mall.

National media have found gold in Clark, too.

Bill Reiter, CBS Sports NBA Insider and analyst, who grew up in Iowa and whose parents are Iowa women’s basketball season ticket holders, said he used to try to keep quiet about Clark, so he didn’t risk appearing to oversell her. But now, with Clark’s presence being a big part of TV’s daily sports diet, he’s letting superlatives fly.

“She’s the most talented college basketball player on earth,” Reiter said.

But why? She has the long-distance shooting of Steph Curry, the radiation of competitive intensity like Larry Bird and the ability to make others better like LeBron James.

“No single person has done more to elevate the sport,” Reiter said.

Clark is a homegrown Iowa talent playing for a school that doesn’t have a huge metropolitan media base, compared to a program close to New York City or Los Angeles.

“To see Iowa City become one of the epicenters of basketball is the coolest thing,” Reiter said. “It’s just hard to break through in Iowa.”

Caitlin Clark will try to shine the same kind of spotlight on the WNBA she has on women's college basketball. (USA Today photo)

Travis Scott and Nolan Ryan were among the fans in the announced crowd of 14,998 at Clark’s final home game, a 93-83 victory over Ohio State March 3. Clark scored 35 points and had nine assists.

It remains to be seen whether Clark’s popularity translates to the WNBA. Iowa sold out its home season tickets and away games have drawn enormous crowds, too. The Hawkeyes drew a sellout crowd of 18,534 for the Big Ten championship at the Target Center in Minneapolis March 10.

She’s provided buzzer beaters and set records at the college level. All the excitement that she’s enjoyed in college would be welcomed by the WNBA, which averaged 6,615 fans in the 2023 season, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press. That figure was the highest in the league since 2018.

“If Caitlin Clark is still Caitlin Clark in the WNBA, it could bring unprecedented attention, eyeballs and revenue,” Reiter said.

Clark already has a website and foundation set up. She’s an honor roll student at Iowa. There’s much to consider as she takes the next steps in her athletic and professional lives.

To a young woman who started out trying many things, she’s once again seeing lots of options to be the best.

“It’ll be fun to see what she wants to do,” Brent Clark said. 

--John Naughton | @SBLive Iowa