SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — On a basketball court in Scottsdale, a young brunette woman shoots from the free-throw line.
Her name is Caitlin Clark, but probably not the one that immediately comes to mind.
"Some people are like, 'Oh just like the basketball player?' 'Yep'," Clark said with a laugh. "That's it."
Clark, who just began her job as a planning specialist for the City of Scottsdale in November, did make it to the NCAA Tournament in a way: Through a commercial alongside Caitlin Clark who plays basketball for the University of Iowa. Iowa's Caitlin Clark is the NCAA women’s all-time leading scorer this year.
The connection was made on LinkedIn a couple of weeks ago.
"I did see a message that caught my eye that said something along the lines of 'Caitlin Clark Commercial,' I thought, 'OK, let me read this,'" Clark said.
Clark said a few days later, she was headed to Los Angeles, shooting on a stadium-sized basketball court for the commercial.
Her husband, Kyle Clark, posted the commercial on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, which has garnered 2.4 million views.
"We did a lot of shots of me trying my best, as you can see in the commercial," the Scottsdale Caitlin Clark said. "You know, leave that open for interpretation. Was it acting? Or am I really just that bad at basketball? I don't know."
To see the finished product after the hours-long shoot, Caitlin Clark said it turned out better than she had expected.
"I can laugh at myself," she said.
Caitlin Clark said she was a general basketball fan, especially the Suns and Mercury, but didn't used to know college basketball players by name.
"With the rise of Caitlin Clark and the excitement around women's college basketball in particular, now I could say I'm a fan," The Arizona Caitlin Clark said.
When evaluating whether to get involved in the commercial, Caitlin Clark said a motivating factor was drawing attention to women in sports.
"I think it's so important right now, the conversation is incredibly important," Caitlin Clark said. "Not just celebrating women in sports, but also everything that that means for the future, how much they're going to be getting paid for the future. How much they're worth is for the future."
Still, cheering on the other women stars on the court too.
"Caitlin Clark is such a remarkable name right now, but so are so many other women such as JuJu Watkins, and Angel Reese, just to name a few. Like, there's so many out there. And I just want them to understand, like, we're all rooting for you," Caitlin Clark said.
While Caitlin Clark didn't grow up playing basketball, she made at least a handful of shots through the chains on the hoop at the park. Still, she's continuing her day job.
"I'll stick to city planning, but hopefully I made the Valley proud," Caitlin Clark said.
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