IOWA CITY, Iowa —

Before she was one of the greatest women’s basketball players in America, Iowa star Caitlin Clark was a little kid schooling the boys.

When she was younger, Caitlin Clark’s dad Brent Clark couldn’t find a girls league for her age, so she joined a boys league in West Des Moines.
She sees the game differently': Caitlin Clark's dad, former coach reflect on her early basketball career

“I think it was the 2nd grade, AAU state tournament. It was a boys tournament. Well, they ended up winning the tournament. One of the mothers complained because ‘a girl shouldn’t be allowed to play in a boys tournament.’ So, I always kind of chuckle about that,” Brent Clark said. “I can just remember her doing things in 3rd and 4th grade that were pretty special.”
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By the time she started 9th grade, she was a nationally known star with the AAU club, All Iowa Attack.

Coach Kristin Meyer just started that year at Dowling Catholic.

“I started getting calls from coaches, Division One coaches, before her freshman year of high school. And they had seen her play,” Meyer said. “They were predicting her to be top level. Some of them said that, even as a freshman in high school, they could’ve played on their D1 team. She sees the game differently than anyone I’ve ever met. The game is slower for her.”

Since getting to Iowa, Caitlin’s jaw-dropping plays and statistical feats are leading Sports Center, getting tweets from Kevin Durant and Steph Curry and have Caitlin Clark poised to win National Player of the Year.

Brent Clark jokes that now people are even asking for HIS autograph. Clark and the Hawkeyes are off to Seattle for the Sweet 16. They play Friday against Duke or Colorado.