Exclusive: Caitlin Clark Opens Up To Kelce Brothers About Fame At A Young Age For The First Time
Caitlin Clark is getting real about the ups and downs of being a basketball star at a young age on the latest episode of New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce.
Women’s Health can exclusively reveal that Caitlin will guest on the January 2 episode of the show, hosted by NFL stars and brothers Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce. In a first-look clip from the episode, which you can watch above, the Indiana Fever guard opens up about getting her first recruitment letters from colleges as early as seventh grade.
Travis refers to that as “insane,” and Caitlin agrees that the college recruitment process has gotten out of hand. She credits her parents, Brent and Anne, for keeping her grounded.
“I feel very fortunate,” Caitlin says, explaining that her parents would ask her brother to pick up the mail so that she wasn't bothered by recruitment letters. “They wanted me to be in seventh grade and enjoy middle school and hang out with [my] friends. Like, you shouldn’t be worrying about where you’re going to college.”
The five-star recruit didn’t take any college visits until after her freshman year, and didn’t decide she would attend the University of Iowa until her senior year. “I was never in a rush,” she says. “My parents did a really good job of making sure I have a good circle around me. It wasn’t always about college recruitment.”
Even as a kid, Caitlin’s talent was undeniable: As a middle schooler, she was playing with high schoolers. “I didn’t really think anything of it,” she says. “I was just going out there and hooping and having fun and it’s kind of just what came with it.” In the years to follow, she’d become the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer and the WNBA Rookie of the Year, breaking both the assists record and rookie scoring record.
Back in April at the WNBA Draft, Caitlin told WH she found therapy and working with sports psychologists “super helpful” as she rose to fame at Iowa. “It's such a stressful period of your life,” she said. “You're 18 to 22 years old and trying to figure out which way your life's going to go while so many eyeballs are on you, and it can be difficult at times.”
She maintained then that her family and friends helped her stay focused on what's truly important, and she planned to keep it that way as she entered the pros. “I've never changed who I am,” she said. “I'm still Caitlin Clark from West Des Moines, Iowa, and that will never change.” As evidenced by her appearance on New Heights, she’s still sticking to that.
Caitlin is now the second female to guest on New Heights who isn’t related to the Kelce brothers (the first being Travis’ Grotesquerie co-star Niecy Nash-Betts on October 30). She's also a lifelong fan of the Kansas City Chiefs, for which Travis plays tight end. Fans have long speculated that Caitlin would appear on the podcast, since she was spotted chatting with Travis back in November at his girlfriend Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Indianapolis.
The full episode of New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce featuring Caitlin Clark will be available on Thursday, January 2 on Wondery+, YouTube, Amazon Music, and everywhere you get your podcasts. Ad-free listening is available on Wondery+.
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