USA Women’s Basketball announced its official Olympic roster on Tuesday, with officials noting that Caitlin Clark’s lack of national team experience played a key role in her omission.
Selection committee chair Jen Rizzotti said that the committee evaluated players according to a set of on-court criteria they were given.
“When you base your decision on criteria, there were other players that were harder to cut because they checked a lot more boxes,” she told reporters on Tuesday. “Then sometimes it comes down to position, style of play for [coach Cheryl Reeve] and then sometimes a vote.”
The squad headed to Paris.
Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/XeBdEmiQo1
— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) June 8, 2024
Three first-time Olympians made the squad: Alyssa Thomas, Sabrina Ionescu, and Kahleah Copper. Additionally, Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum will make the switch to the national 5-on-5 team after winning gold in the inaugural 3×3 competition at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Age, Rizzotti said, was “never brought up” in player selection discussions. It’s the first time in Olympic history that a USA Women’s Basketball 5-on-5 team will travel to the Games without a single player under 26 years old.
Rizzotti commented that all the players tapped for this year’s Olympic roster have senior national team experience, something that Clark does not have.
“She’s certainly going to continue to get better and better,” USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley added. “Really hope that she’s a big part of our future going forward.”
Rizzotti said it would have been “irresponsible” to base roster decisions on anything outside of a basketball context. Marketing and popularity were not on the selection committee’s list of criteria.
“It would be irresponsible for us to talk about her in a way other than how she would impact the play of the team,” Rizzotti said. “Because it wasn’t the purview of our committee to decide how many people would watch or how many people would root for the US. It was our purview to create the best team we could for Cheryl.”
Clark expressed that she’ll be using what some consider a snub as fuel for a run at the 2028 Olympic team.
“I think it just gives you something to work for,” Clark told media after practice Sunday. “It’s a dream. Hopefully one day I can be there. I think it’s just a little more motivation. You remember that. Hopefully when four years comes back around, I can be there.”
Watch more: “Were Caitlin Clark and Arike Ogunbowale snubbed?” on Expert Adjacent
