Fever Coach Stephanie White Reveals Caitlin Clark Plan Ahead of WNBA Season
Caitlin Clark's 2025 season with the Indiana Fever did not go according to plan. After an incredible rookie campaign, Clark managed just 13 games in her second season while battling multiple soft-tissue injuries.
The good news is that Clark is now back to full strength. She made her senior national team debut for Team USA in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in March for the FIBA Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament.
The 23-year-old proved that she's still on top of her game. She led Team USA to a 5-0 record, while also winning the tournament's Most Valuable Player award along the way.
Fever head coach Stephanie White was part of the coaching staff for Team USA. She saw Clark's progress firsthand, and the former WNBA Coach of the Year is confident that Clark is ready for the upcoming season.
White, however, is not ready to fully unleash Clark at this point - at least not yet.
"She has worked her butt off this whole offseason to prepare herself," White said on Thursday on the "Query & Company" podcast. "We have an added advantage in that she played games in March with USA basketball. And so she has game exposure.
"She has game pace. She has game rhythm. She has game timing. And so we have an advantage."
Stephanie White on ensuring Caitlin Clark is physically ready for the Fever's upcoming season
— Grant Young (@GrvntYoung) April 16, 2026
"We have an added advantage in that she played games in March."
: @Query_Companypic.twitter.com/LEBOT1qjjR
White said that the Fever intend to manage Clark's return from injury as she prepares for what could be her biggest season yet.
"But we also want to be smart," White continued. "She doesn't need every rep in practice. We want to continue to ramp her up.
"It's a long season. 44 games and we play a heavy cadence of games in a week.
"And so we want to be smart in camp and make sure we - I don't want to say either into it because she's ready for camp - but we want to make sure that we manage the reps and what kinds of reps she's getting just to build her up so that she's ready to go, and we don't have any kind of questions about that."
White and the Fever won the Commissioner's Cup championship last season with Clark sidelined. They also made it to the WNBA playoffs semifinals.
Bigger things are expected of the Fever in 2026 with Clark back in the mix.
Related: Caitlin Clark, Stephanie White Draw Attention on Thursday
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This story was originally published April 17, 2026 at 8:33 AM.