Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve not ready to talk about Caitlin Clark, Olympic roster

Before Minnesota’s game against Seattle on Sunday night at Target Center, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said she wasn’t ready to share an opinion about WNBA rookie Caitlin Clark and the upcoming Summer Olympics.

On Sunday, Clark confirmed after the Indiana Fever’s practice that she will not be on the U.S. women’s basketball roster. The issue has dominated WNBA discussion in recent days. Clark, the former Iowa standout who was drafted first overall, is averaging 16.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists with the Fever.

But Reeve, who will coach the team in Paris this summer, didn’t share her opinion before Sunday’s game.

“The official announcement has not been made by USA Basketball,” Reeve said. “So it would be premature for me to have any conversations about any player or anything until I see that announcement.”

The roster for the team is determined by a selection committee led by Jennifer Rizzotti, the Connecticut Sun president and former national team player. The committee also includes South Carolina coach and former U.S. coach Dawn Staley, LSU assistant coach and former Lynx player Seimone Augustus, Old Dominion coach Delisha Milton-Jones, and WNBA head of league operations Bethany Donaphin.

Reeve was named the United States national team coach in December 2021, after previously serving as an assistant under Geno Auriemma for the 2016 Games and under Staley for 2020. The Americans have won nine of the 12 Olympic gold medals awarded in women’s basketball, including seven in a row.