“I gotta stay on that girl”: Caitlin Clark on being “proud” of Hannah Stuelke’s practice, pushing her to “dominate” even in practice
Caitlin Clark was in Iowa on the last weekend of October as she received her Big Ten championship and Final Four rings with the 2023-24 Iowa roster. She also joined the Iowa Hawkeyes for practice and later joined Jada Gyamfi on her ‘Fresh Tawk’ podcast with Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall.
While talking about her time at the gym, Caitlin Clark mentioned Hannah Stuelke and her passion during the session. In the episode which was released on YouTube on Wednesday, Clarke said:
“I brought energy to the practice. Practice was going up.
“Hannah Stuelke’s- she had a great practice. I’m proud of her. I gotta stay on that girl. I’m like, ‘Every time you dominate, (points at her head) right here. Think about it, every time. Take over.'”
Caitlin Clark has always been vocal about her appreciation of Stuelke’s skills on the court. After a slow freshman season, the forward had a breakthrough as a sophomore and averaged 14.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists last year.
“Hannah has always had the athletic ability, her skills have gotten better, she works just as hard as anyone on the team,” Clark said in January (via ESPN). “She’s getting her confidence because of all the work she’s put in and she deserves it.
“I think that’s the biggest thing, the biggest area she’s grown. She kind of has that dog mentality now, and that’s what I’m most proud of for her.”
Hannah Stuelke praises Caitlin Clark and expresses her gratitude
During her two years playing with Caitlin Clark, Hannah Stuelke grew immensely and played a vital role during Iowa’s championship game run last season. Stuelke highlighted the role that the former Hawkeyes guard played in an interview with CBS Sports during the Big Ten Media Day.
“Caitlin’s really fun to play with and really easy to mesh with just because she’s always looking for what’s best for the team or she’ll see you when you’re open and you don’t even think you’re open,” Stuelke said.
“I think she did a great job. She did a great job handling things on and off the court.
She went through a lot of adversity. I think just the way that she handled that with grace and she’s amazing,” she said.
With Clark now in the WNBA, players like Hannah Stuelke will play an important role in the new era as Iowa tries to navigate without its experienced senior class. Along with Stuelke, Kylie Feuerbach and Sydney Affolter will take up leadership roles.
