Dawn Staley Doesn’t Hold Back About Caitlin Clark

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Spencer Ostrow | Last updated Jun 19, 2025 11:15 AM ET

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark has drawn plenty of new fans to women's basketball over the last few years with her ability to shoot and pass. Since being drafted No. 1 overall by the Fever in 2024, she's gone on to light up the scoreboard nearly every time she takes the court.

Through six games played this season, she's averaging 21.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 8.7 assists.

In Thursday's edition of "Not Gonna Lie With Kylie Kelce," college basketball coach Dawn Staley spoke about Clark. She didn’t hold back, saying that the new eyes on the sport "only want you to speak very highly of her."

"I think she's quite incredible, quite an anomaly when it comes to how many eyeballs that she's bringing on the game, and new eyeballs," the three-time national champion South Carolina coach said.

"And the newness of those eyeballs only want her to do well, only want you to speak very highly of her, only want you to agree with what they agree with. And that's kind of hard when we are critics to everyone that plays the game. We're critics to it. It's a part of our, the fabric of sports."

Staley also praised Clark and shared insight on how to defend her. The former Iowa guard scored over 30 points in both of their college matchups.

"I would say she's probably the most difficult to scout, to play against, in that she can beat you a variety of ways," Staley said.

"She can beat you with her, obviously, a three-point shot, but for me, the most dangerous thing of Caitlin Clark is her passing ability, her ability to make other people better, and her ability to have other people's production along with her production. That's how you win. If you can get somebody to produce along with her, if you could take that away."

Clark dominated the WNBA since entering the league. In 2024, she was named an All-Star, selected to the All-WNBA First Team, named Rookie of the Year and led the league in assists. This year, she’s already in the early running for WNBA MVP.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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