'She was D1 material': Is Caitlin Clark an elite two-sport athlete?

Caitlin Clark had an exceptional rookie campaign in the WNBA, taking the Indiana Fever to the playoffs and winning the WNBA Rookie of the Year award.

The star rookie exceeded all lofty expectations after being drafted number one in the draft, averaging 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 8.4 assists, ESPN reports.

Clark has terrorized defences all season long with her elite shooting ability and basketball IQ, but it's not the only sport in which she has destroyed opponents.

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Many elite athletes decide early in their careers which sport they want to pursue at the next level, potentially abandoning what they have excelled in since childhood.

For Clark, that decision was no different at an early age. The newly crowned WNBA Rookie of the Year also excelled on the soccer pitch, playing the sport throughout high school.

At Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, Clark played soccer for two seasons and immediately left a lasting impact with incredible performances and goals.

According to Sporting News, her father, Brent Clark, believes she could have been equally skilled if she had stuck with soccer rather than basketball.

Her father said: "Quite frankly, and I'm not trying to brag about it, but I think she probably could have been the same sort of talent in soccer that she is in basketball. She could have been on the USA, junior-national type teams."

Those words may seem ridiculous for a basketball player as exceptionally talented as Clark. However, the numbers do back up Brent Clark's claims.

During her freshmen season at Dowling, Clark scored a staggering 26 goals in six games as a striker. She was the only first-year to make First-Team All-State in 2017.

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Picture – YouTube @Austin Franklin

She only played six games that season, a testament to Clark's incredible athletic ability. For the other half of the season, she represented Team USA at the FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina, winning gold.

JP Pearson, the head coach of the women's soccer team at Dowling, believes Clark could have taken her soccer ability to the next level, which has drawn comparisons to her basketball game.

Sportskeeda reports that Pearson said, "She was D-I material in soccer, easily. She did have a way to go, but if she had stayed in soccer and made that her No. 1 sport ... she was good."

"The way she used her body, even as a freshman ... with her back to a defender, the defenders couldn't win the ball. As you can see on the (basketball) court, she was really good at turning players."

John Sheridan, one of Clark's youth coaches, said: "I've been doing this for 23 years, and I've not seen a female soccer player strike a ball like Caitlin. There have been some better players, for sure. But in terms of ball-striking, she had unbelievable technique."

Despite her apparent ability to excel in soccer, the WNBA star has made the right choice in picking basketball. She has already become the biggest star in the women's game.

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