What's next for Caitlin Clark? 'I'm just scratching the surface,' but also some golf.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Caitlin Clark sees some golfing in her near future. Before it gets too cold. at least.

Clark's near year-long undertaking of high-level basketball came to an end Wednesday night after the Fever fell to the Connecticut Sun, 87-81 , in Game 2 to be eliminated from the WNBA playoffs .

Now, she can relax. She doesn't have to think about what's coming up.

"I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow, I don't know what I'm going to do the next day," Clark said . "Maybe play some golf. That's what I'm gonna do until it gets too cold in Indiana. I'll become a professional golfer."

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Well, maybe not entirely.

"Not too much, babe," Aliyah Boston said to Clark's golf comments. "Keep it to basketball."

Clark told the ESPN broadcast Wednesday she is not planning to play a season overseas in the WNBA offseason. There are other options stateside, including 5-on-5 league Athletes Unlimited and new 3x3 league Unrivaled , but Clark hasn't said if she will be participating in any of those.

So, this upcoming offseason will now be the first time in nearly a year that Clark will not have to think about basketball, day-in and day-out. Clark started practice for her senior season with Iowa around this time last year, played her first scrimmage in October 2023, and hasn't stopped playing since.

She went from a 39-game college schedule, which stretched from October-April, to WNBA training camp in April, and a full, 40-game WNBA season, as well as two playoff games, from May-September.

It's a grueling schedule for Clark, for all rookies coming straight out of a college season.

Still, she managed to have a historic year . Starting all 42 games for the Fever, Clark led the league in assists with 8.4 per game, and she was top-10 in scoring at 19.2 points per game. She broke both the rookie and the league single-season assists record, as well as the rookie scoring record, and was the first rookie to record a triple-double (she did it twice). After a 1-8 start, she led the Fever to finish 20-20 and clinch their first playoff berth in eight years.

"I feel like I had a solid year," Clark said when asked how she would rate her rookie season. "But for me, the fun part is I feel like I'm just scratching the surface, and I'm one that's nitpicking every single thing I do, and I want to help this franchise get even better. Help my teammates get even better. Be better for my teammates. And I know there's a lot of room for me to continue to improve. So that's what excites me the most."

As a 22-year-old just four months out of college, it's a lot to take in. And it will take her a while to process the whirlwind of a year she has been on.

"There were a lot of things that this group accomplished that, you know, a lot of people probably didn't think was possible, one to start the season, and two, after the start we had to the season," Clark said. "It'll definitely be probably a little weird for me over the course of the first couple weeks."

But she can't stay away from basketball for long.

"I'm sure I'll get bored and pick up a basketball again."

Follow IndyStar Fever Insider Chloe Peterson on X at @chloepeterson67.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: What's next for Caitlin Clark? 'I'm just scratching the surface,' but also some golf.