Caitlin Clark's high school coach recalls last time she was left off Team USA roster: 'Driven to get better'

Caitlin Clark lead the Team WNBA to a victory over Team USA with 10 assists. Colin Cowherd says that Women’s Basketball is not ready for Clark, and that she should have been on the Women's Olympic roster.

Caitlin Clark won’t be in Paris representing the United States in women’s basketball, and it led to heated debate after the 12-woman roster was announced by USA Basketball.

But through all the controversy talk, Kristin Meyer, Clark’s high school basketball coach, sent a text to her to remind the WNBA phenom that this wasn’t the first time she was left off a USA roster despite trying out. 

Yahoo Sports spoke with Meyer, who watched a high school sophomore Clark try out for the U-17 World Cup USA squad in 2018, and it was expected she would make the team after helping them qualify for the tournament in Summer 2017. 

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Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever passes the ball during the game against the New York Liberty at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on July 6, 2024 in Indianapolis. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

However, despite Meyer saying Clark performed well during those tryouts, she wasn’t chosen for the U-17 roster. 

"She actually broke her pinkie early in the tryouts, but I don’t think that was necessarily the determining factor," Meyer told Yahoo Sports. "There were just some players that I guess the committee thought played better."

Clark was the highest-ranked prospect that played for the U-16 team the summer prior that was left off the U-17 roster. 

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So, instead of wearing "USA" across her jersey in Belarus alongside players like Paige Bueckers, Indiana Fever teammate Aliyah Boston and