As the USA announced the squad for the upcoming FIBA World Cup qualifying tournament, a glaring detail caught everyone’s eye. The 17-person roster and staff features a strong Indiana Fever contingent, with three members hailing from the organization. Sophia Jones feels that it might dictate Team USA’s power shift going forward.

On the “Locked On Women’s Basketball” podcast, Jones noted that the assistant coach Stephanie White and star players Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston all shared the same affiliation.

“Paying into some of those teams, though, and looking where some of these players fall. I see Steph White having two players represented between Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark. So she has the most say, I guess. I mean, this could all change in tomorrow because of free agency also,”

Duke’s Kara Lawson has been entrusted with managing the side, but even then, Stephanie White will be key. Nobody knows Clark and Boston quite like Fever coach White, who uses her trump cards to beat her rivals seamlessly. She makes Caitlin stretch defenses with her shooting and passing, while using Boston to anchor the paint with rebounding and scoring efficiency.

Stephanie White will be the catalyst who will bridge the gap between the Fever stars and the national program. Nobody quite unlocks a player’s capabilities like a coach who knows you well, and that is White here.

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Kara Lawson has no prior experience working with Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston, and her go-to source of information would be Stephanie White. So, despite being the headcoach she would technically have to look upto advise from someone who knows these players’ ins and outs, and who better than White, and that is TEAM USA’s masterstroke this season. This will further encourage other players from the Indiana Fever to dream of a spot in Team USA.

Boston and Clark ironically joined the Fever within a year’s gap. Both were No. 1 picks and standouts for their respective colleges. They have now evolved into two of the best among the Fever ranks, so having that same chemistry come alive for the national team under a coach who knows them well is more than expected.

Now will the troika prove to be too much for other teams to handle? While everyone is happy at the prospect of these three coming back again together, there’s also the first-time aspect of Caitlin playing together with one of her biggest nemesis on court: Angel Reese.

Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese Will Combine For Team USA In Upcoming Qualifiers

When the USA takes on Senegal in their first game of the qualifiers, all eyes will be on Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, as the duo will be making their senior team debuts.

Who can forget both Clark and Reese’s history, tracing back to their college days with Iowa and LSU, and that rivalry they had? Never before has women’s basketball felt that sort of electricity emitting from two future stars.

Reese’s “You Can’t See Me Gesture” on Clark is still part of college folklore, and now these two will be expected to bury the hatchet and come together for the team’s sake. You can’t get a more cinematic situation than this ever. Period.

While both were named back-to-back All-Stars, with Clark the recipient of the most fan votes in WNBA history, the 24-year-old was unable to participate due to injury. A right groin injury kept her out for the majority of games in the 2025 season, where she made just 13 appearances and averaged 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 8.8 assists, and 1.6 steals.

Angel, on the other hand, had no such problems and recorded 23 double-doubles, which puts her into a special category of players with the most made by a player in two seasons (46), surpassing Tina Charles.

So two players with different trajectories will now play together, hoping to add another distinction to their record. Now the question is, who will shine brighter among these two rivals, Caitlin or Angel, when the big day finally arrives?