![\"WNBA:](\"https:\/\/images.deadspin.com\/tr:w-900\/27216980.jpg\")
Sep 30, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) reacts from the bench after a play made by the Las Vegas Aces during the fourth quarter of game five of the second round for the 2025 WNBA Playoffs at Michelob Ultra Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images <\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\nCaitlin Clark called it a “really cool opportunity” as she prepares to make her Team USA debut at the FIBA World Cup qualifiers in Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n The five games between March 11-17 will also mark Clark’s first competitive basketball games in nearly eight months. That’s when her second WNBA season was cut short by a series of quad, groin and ankle injuries.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Clark took part in her first USA Basketball senior national training camp in December and said that she was 100%, but she acknowledged that this week brings different feelings.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n “I don’t want to call it nerves, but excitement to play,” Clark said after practice Monday, per ESPN. “This is a really cool opportunity. If you don’t feel that way, then you probably don’t care enough. Certainly, that’s how I feel about it for myself.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n <\/p>\n Clark, 24, is expected to make her Team USA debut on Wednesday against Senegal. The qualifiers are a prelude to the FIBA World Cup in September, with Team USA one of five that have already qualified for the tournament in Berlin.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n “This is a different stage,” she said. “You’re not going to come out here and be the star player. That’s not how it’s going to be for USA Basketball.”<\/p>\n<\/section>\n After not missing a game during her rookie season in the WNBA, Clark averaged 16.5 points and 8.8 assists while appearing in only 13 contests last year.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n “I feel like I’ve put myself in the best possible shape I could be in at this point,” Clark said. “The first game is the hardest, but once you get in kind of a flow of things, you figure things out.”<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Team USA is chock full of WNBA stars, with 2025 No. 1 overall pick Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese and Kiki Iriafen also set to make their senior national team debuts.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n