As we inch closer to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, USA Basketball announced its next evaluation camp will be held during the 2024 NCAA Tournament. 14 players are expected at camp, including Caitlin Clark.
The Iowa guard has won three gold medals with the U19 team but has yet to attend a senior women's team camp. That could happen as soon as next month, but it would mean Clark and Iowa failed to advance to the Final Four. Should Clark find her way on the 2024 roster, she would be the first player since Breanna Stewart to compete in an Olympics in the same year as her final NCAA season and her WNBA rookie campaign.
For Clark to make the USA Basketball roster, that would likely mean a guard from the last Olympic roster or World Cup team will stay at home. Alongside Clark, USAB has invited Aliyah Boston and Rhyne Howard to camp. All three are seeking to make their first senior team roster. Howard and Clark are the only two guards with no World Cup or Olympic experience.
New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (2016, 2020) and Phoenix Mercury teammates Diana Taurasi (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020) and Brittney Griner (2016, 2020) are the only players with multiple Olympic gold medals attending the Cleveland camp. Las Vegas Aces teammates Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum both won gold with the USAB 3x3 team in 2020. Aces guard Chelsea Gray and forward A'ja Wilson won gold with the senior team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Full USA Basketball training camp roster
- Shakira Austin
- Ariel Atkins
- Aliyah Boston
- Caitlin Clark
- Chelsea Gray
- Brittney Griner
- Rhyne Howard
- Sabrina Ionescu
- Jewell Loyd
- Kelsey Plum
- Breanna Stewart
- Diana Taurasi
- A'ja Wilson
- Jackie Young
Can Clark make the 2024 Olympic roster?
If Clark makes the roster, the USA Basketball committee will have tough decisions to make. The national team has always skewed on the older side, so if Taurasi is healthy she will likely make the final 12-player roster. If prior senior team experience is indeed favored, that could mean Howard will have a tough time making the roster over Plum, Young, Loyd and perhaps even New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu. However, Howard can offer head coach Cheryl Reeve more size and versatility in her backcourt, and those details matter in an Olympic tournament.
The good news for USA Basketball -- and the bad news for the rest of the field -- is there is an abundance of talent to choose from. Further, Reeve and coaching staff bring a wealth of experience at the WNBA and NCAA level. Should she lead USA to its eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal (11th overall), she will be the seventh different coach to lead the U.S. to gold. The United States will compete in Pool 1 alongside China and Australia in group play.
USA Basketball opens its Olympic Tournament on July 27. The bronze and gold medal games will be held Aug. 11 at Bercy Arena in Paris, France.
