"Caitlin Clark realizes she's not in Iowa anymore": Carolyn Peck dissects former Hawkeye's situation amid suspension woes
Caitlin Clark has wasted no time settling into the WNBA after a fabulous collegiate career with the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Indiana Fever rookie has been excellent for the team thus far and on Wednesday, Clark set the WNBA single-game assists record when she racked up 19 of them against the Dallas Wings.
Although Clark's heroics couldn't get the victory for the Fever, ESPN analyst Carolyn Peck outlined how the NCAA's top scorer has adjusted to the WNBA.
“The biggest thing is that Caitlin Clark realizes she is not in Iowa anymore,” Peck said. "I think the difference is when she played at Iowa, Lisa Bluder required her to take a lot of shots. She (Clark) was the go-to and had to do probably 70-80% of what this team needed on the offensive end."
Peck, who coached Purdue to victory in the 1999 national championship, explained how the former Iowa guard has matured in the pro league:
"But while playing for Indiana, she has learned to play with a great center in Aliyah Boston. She has learned how to get the ball to Kelsey Mitchell, the shooter from the perimeter. And mixing it all in, offense is flowing for Indiana. I think it’s the maturation of Caitlin Clark.”
Caitlin Clark inches closer toward one-game suspension as technical fouls mount
While Clark has been able to grab headlines for all the right reasons in the past few weeks, there is a slight concern around her looming WNBA suspension, due to her growing number of technical fouls.
WNBA players are given a one-game suspension after committing seven technical fouls.
Clark already has four technical fouls to her name, tied for the second-most in the league. She committed her fourth technical foul on Sunday when Indiana beat the Minnesota Lynx 81-74. Clark swung her right arm in the third quarter and made contact with the face of Lynx forward Cecilia Zandalasini.
Clark would want to avoid a one-game suspension, but for now, the WNBA is going on a month-long hiatus due to the Paris Olympics. Reports are suggesting that Clark, who has impressed in her rookie year at Indiana, has a slight chance of joining the US women's national basketball team.