Caitlin Clark Invited To Olympic Training Camp, But It's During March Madness

The accolades just keep on piling up for Caitlin Clark. The Iowa Hawkeyes star has been invited to participate in the United States women’s basketball training camp in Cleveland ahead of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.

There's only one problem: That camp is scheduled for April 3-5, and the NCAA Women's Final Four takes place April 5 — with the National Championship game just two nights later. Of course, Iowa still has to win two more games to reach its second-straight Final Four, starting with Saturday’s Sweet 16 match-up against No. 5 Colorado in Albany.

(Iowa's Caitlin Clark. Credit: Getty Images)

If Iowa loses before the Final Four, it'll free up Clark to attend the camp. If not, expect the senior to stay focused on winning her first-ever NCAA Championship.

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But next week's training camp is just one step in USA Basketball’s selection procedure for the Olympic Games. A committee of coaches and former players will handpick the members of both the USA’s 5-on-5 and 3-on-3 teams. Then, they'll play an exhibition game against WNBA All-Stars in Phoenix on July 20. 

And there's already stiff competition to make the teams. Nine former Olympians will be at the Cleveland camp — including Diana Taurasi, Ariel Atkins, Chelsea Gray, A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, Brittney Griner, Jewell Lloyd and Breanna Stewart. Also invited are Sabrina Ionescu and Shakira Austin, who were on the gold-medal winning team for the 2022 FIBA World Cup, and Rhyne Howard and Aliyah Boston, who were part of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament team.

A date for the roster announcement has not been set.

Clark has already won three gold medals with USA junior teams, most recently at the FIBA U19 World Cup in 2021.