If you ask Dawn Staley what the toughest loss of her coaching career was, she’ll probably say none. But when it comes to her players’ toughest loss? She’s got a clear-cut answer: the 2023 Final Four clash vs Iowa. Who can blame her? That was the night Caitlin Clark took her Hawkeye to the championship. A tough pill to swallow for South Carolina, no doubt. The next year, they got their revenge in the natty but Staley never once downplayed what Clark did to them that night.
That same greatness didn’t just stay in Iowa. Clark took all that magic to the pros and started smashing records like it was nothing. While she’s mostly known for pulling up from the logo and breaking ankles with her range, her WNBA numbers scream “elite point guard.” We’re talking record-setting assists – 337 in a season and a whopping 19 in a single game. That, right there, is what Dawn Staley believes sets Clark apart from the rest.
“She can beat you a variety of ways,” Staley said. “She can beat you with her, obviously, her three-point shot. But for me, the most dangerous thing about Caitlin Clark is her passing ability. Her ability to make other people better. Her ability to have, you know, other people’s production along with her production. That’s how you win.”
She’s not just saying that for kicks. Staley broke it down, especially from the two times her squad faced Iowa in the tournament. Turns out, the game plan wasn’t to stop Clark from scoring, it was to keep her from doing everything else. “That was our emphasis when we won, when we beat them [Iowa]… We said Caitlin Clark’s gonna get 30. But she can’t have 12 assists. Because if she’s got 12 assists, then she’s involving her teammates in a way that doesn’t quite add up. We can’t produce enough points like they can.”
Dawn Staley on Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce: On coaching against Caitlin Clark-
“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” pic.twitter.com/Zy1AzOzZ9t
— lo (@caitscroptop) June 19, 2025
Completely fair. Because if you’ve watched Clark, you already know – once she taps into playmaker mode, it’s game over. Last season, she led the league with 8.4 assists per game, while also averaging 19.2 points and 5.7 rebounds. She broke the rookie record for most assists in a season (over 225!) and became the first rookie to record a triple-double. Oh, and she had seven games with at least 25 points and 10 dimes in just 42 games.
She’s basically the engine that runs the entire Fever offense. Last year was all about the bounce passes in traffic to Aliyah Boston, one-handed lobs to Kelsey Mitchell, and seemingly every other basket ended with the Gainbridge Fieldhouse booming, “… from Clark!” One of her finest moments? That historic triple-double. Clark put up 19 points, 13 assists, and 12 boards in a comeback win, dishing out dimes like it was candy.
Even then, she turned the spotlight to her teammates. “My teammates have been finishing the ball at a really, really high rate. My assist numbers, that’s because of them.” Also, don’t forget that absolute masterclass she had against Mercury. “She has got a crazy eye for her teammates and where they are, and moving, and she’s able to make passes that some people [can’t],” Fever head coach Christie Sides said back then.
The chemistry was unreal. Kelsey Mitchell, at one point, didn’t even wait for the ball to land before jumping for the bucket. Clark hit her with a bounce pass from the elbow, and Mitchell caught it mid-air and laid it in. And Clark’s been doing this for years. She averaged 8.9 assists during her senior season at Iowa. The vision’s always been there. It just took some time to get used to the pace and system in the W.
Fast forward to now, she’s averaging 8.5 assists per game. In her comeback game vs the New York Liberty, she dropped 32 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds. She led a 25–3 run that flipped the entire game. Clark directly contributed to 54 points – half of that off assists alone. That’s floor general energy. That’s leadership.
So when Staley says Clark is the engine of the Fever, she means it. But does Staley think there’s a weakness in Clark’s game?
Dawn Staley’s real talk, what Caitlin Clark’s fans need to hear
There’s no doubt about it…Caitlin Clark has brought a tidal wave of new fans into women’s basketball. From her long-range logo threes to her flashy, jaw-dropping assists, she’s been the centre for a while now. Since the Indiana Fever drafted her No. 1 overall in 2024, Clark has been lighting up the league and taking WNBA viewership right along with her.
But according to South Carolina head coach, that fanbase might need a quick little reality check. “I think she’s quite an anomaly when it comes to how many eyeballs she’s bringing on the game — and new eyeballs,” Staley said during her June 19 appearance on Kylie Kelce’s Not Gonna Lie podcast. “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 who plays the game. It’s a part of the fabric of sports. That’s what we do.”
Staley knows Clark’s game. She coached against her twice, and both times she saw what Clark could do up close. But love and praise aside, Staley said it’s a coach’s job to find the flaws and game plan around them. Clark has some. “She’s a risk taker when it comes to passing the ball,” Staley explained. “She’ll turn the ball over some, and that’s a great thing if you’re her opposition.”
Still, this isn’t about tearing Clark down. In fact, Staley made it super clear that everyone gets critiqued. Even her former player, two-time MVP A’ja Wilson. “No one plays the game perfectly. No one,” Staley said. She shared how she criticises Wilson’s game too and she’s gotten better with certain areas.
April 7, 2025: University of South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley answers questions during a news conference after the Gamecocks lost to the University of Connecticut for the NCAA National Championship at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, on April 6, 2025. – ZUMAm67_ 20250407_zaf_m67_076 Copyright: xTracyxGlantzx
The takeaway is if fans want Clark to grow into everything she can be, they’ve got to accept the good and the growth areas. And when someone like Dawn Staley – who’s been there, done that, and raised champions – is offering some honest perspective, it’s worth listening.
The post Dawn Staley Makes Honest Admission on Caitlin Clark While Detailing the X-Factor in Fever Star appeared first on EssentiallySports.