“Caitlin Clark prepares for Indiana’s preseason home debut”. Fever to open the 3rd arena deck against Atlanta

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark spent Wednesday practicing in an empty Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

On Thursday night, Indianapolis’ revolutionary new rock star will be greeted by a raucous, nearly sold-out crowd of 17,000 people who believe The WNBA’s No. 1 pick can instantly change the fortunes of the Indiana Fever.

A little more than a month after leading Iowa to its second straight NCAA championship game, Clark will make his Fever home debut in a preseason game against the Atlanta Dream.

“People really know who I am,” Clark said Wednesday. “Sometimes it’s hard to go out and do what I want to do, but at the same time, I wouldn’t have it any other way. This is the best way to develop women’s basketball. It’s the best way to get these fans excited about what we’re going to do here, so I think people are just as excited as we are to play here. So I think more than anything, enjoy it, soak it up.

Clark’s mere presence has already made a difference. In the pre-season opens Friday evening in Dallas, she scored a team-high 21 points in a 79–76 loss to another near sellout. The fever will have 36 of their 40 nationally televised games and its regular season debut on May 14 at Connecticut will be the first sporting event broadcast live on Disney+.

Closer to home, the Fever will open the third deck of their arena rather than having seating only on the lower two decks. The change means Indiana could draw more than 17,000 fans to a preseason game that was moved up a day because of the NBA playoffs. The Indiana Pacers will host the New York Knicks in Game 3 of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals Friday night.

Fever officials did not say Wednesday how many tickets were still available, only that there were a limited number. And yet they could still sell out the most anticipated home debut for an Indiana athlete since Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck.

For Clark, playing in front of a full arena has become the norm. For her teammates and coaches, this could be the start of something bigger than they could have imagined.

“This is what women’s basketball has always been about,” said 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston. “I think it’s really cool that fans follow their favorite players from college to the league because that’s how we continue to grow.”

Especially when it comes to a generational type player like Clark, who has fully embraced her new hometown.

“Honestly, I expect a lot of people to be here, I expect it to be loud, I expect the fans to be really involved,” Clark said. “Like I know these fans are going to show up and they know what’s going to happen on the field. I think sometimes you can show up at arenas and they just sit there. But like when I was in college, they were invested, they know what’s going on.

“I think it’s the same thing in the state of Indiana, the people who support the Fever, who support the Pacers, are invested. So they will applaud, they will attack the referees.

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