Perhaps the most recognizable Indiana basketball couple since coach Norman Dale and teacher Myra Fleener, Caitlin Clark was spotted courtside with boyfriend Connor McCaffery at Monday’s Pacers-Grizzlies preseason game in Indianapolis.
McCaffery, the son of Iowa men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery, actually worked for the Pacers after playing for the Hawkeyes in college. Now the 26-year-old assistant is heading into his first season under decorated Butler head coach Thad Matta in Indianapolis.
The Hoosier State power couple and erstwhile Iowans were joined by Clark’s Indiana Fever teammate, Kelsey Mitchell, who shared a hug with the WNBA Rookie of the Year to the delight of the crowd.
The two are coming off a thrilling season in Indianapolis, where the Fever managed to qualify for the postseason despite a 1-8 start to the season. The two finished the regular season tied with a team-high 19.2 points a game, while Clark recorded a league-best 8.4 assists per night.
The Fever were eventually eliminated by Connecticut Sun in the playoffs earlier this month and the 22-year-old Clark now has time to rest and recover from playing the lead role in an unprecedent year for women’s basketball.
Caitlin Clark and boyfriend Connor McCaffery look on during an NBA preseason game
Indiana Fever teammates Caitlin Clark (right) and Kelsey Mitchell (left) take in the game
Clark now heads into the offseason, where she hopes to get some rest after playing, more or less, continuously since the start of the 2023-24 college season in Iowa.
She has apparently declined to play in the upstart 3-on-3 league, Unrivaled, and is instead looking forward to being out of the spotlight for a bit.
‘It feels like everybody is watching your every single move, no matter what you’re doing,’ Clark said this week about life in the spotlight. ‘I’ve tried to be the same person off the court.
‘It will be a little bit of an adjustment period for myself. It’s going to be nice, though, getting out of the spotlight. Getting to live my life and do the things that I want to do, get away and relax a little bit.’
Clark wasn’t the Big Ten legend in the building: 7-foot-4 Zach Edey was also on hand
One thing Clark does plan to do: Golf.
‘I don’t know what I’m going to do the next day – maybe play some golf,’ she said after being eliminated from the postseason. ‘That’s what I’m going to do – become a professional golfer.’
Clark has made no secret of her love for golf, long before she took the WNBA by storm.
Speaking in 2023 to Golf Digest, she said: ‘That’s what I was looking forward to the most with basketball ending.
‘I still want to be active and do something, so I’m going to go to the golf course. You can clear your mind, do something you really love, and have the peace and quiet of just your friends around or even just yourself. I love being able to escape reality for a little bit.’
