Indiana Fever assistant led Caitlin Clark through uncharted injury waters

USA Today

2 days ago

Caitlin Clark's second WNBA season with the Indiana Fever has gotten off to a frustrating start due to separate injury stints that have sidelined the star guard for a combined 10 games.
Prior to the left quadriceps and left groin injuries that sidelined Clark this season, Clark had played in 185 straight games across college and the start of her WNBA career.
Given her run of good health and relative unfamiliarity navigating back from inury, Clark has needed someone to lean on. Fever assistant coach Briann January has been key in that regard.
January, who had several injuries plague her throughout her phenomenal 15-year career that included stops in Indiana (2009-17), Phoenix (2018-19), Connecticut (2020-21), and Seattle (2022).
January tore her ACL in June 2011, forcing her to miss most of the Fever season. She then tore her right meniscus during Game 5 of the 2015 WNBA Finals, and she played through the injury and had surgery following the season. January suffered a torn meniscus again in the same knee in 2017, missing the final weeks of the Fever's season. On top of all this, she also dealt with minor foot injuries throughout the 2019 season with the Phoenix Mercury.
With a laundry list of injuries from her playing career, January was still able to collect several accolades, including being a 2015 WNBA champion with the Fever, a 2014 WNBA All-Star selection, a five-time WNBA All-Defensive First Team selection, and a two-time WNBA All-Defensive Second Team selection.
With Clark still in the early stages of what will eventually be a legendary WNBA career, there is nobody better to guide her through the difficulties of recovery than January.
'Coach Bri, she's been through injuries herself, and she's always kind of just been there,' Clark said before Indiana's game against Golden State on Wednesday. 'Even if I'm in the weight room extra after practice, like she'll come in there and and talk to me and just help me work through the extra lifting that I have to do, because she's experienced those type of things as a player, and she kind of knows how it goes, and knows that those days can get long. So I really appreciate her.'
Being an injured athlete, regardless of the severity, can evoke a range of emotions, from frustration over what caused the injury to feeling left out while attending team activities.
For Clark, January has provided a calming influence as the second-year WNBA phenom deals with the emotions of her recovery and snapping a six-year streak of never missing a game due to injury, which dates back to her high school years.
"It's been challenging mentally, just, you know, staying in it," Clark said Tuesday. "You're way more busy when you're hurt than (when you're playing). You're coming in and all you do is, you know, scout, film and come out here and walk through things. I've been here for hours and hours on hours trying to get my body right and do everything I can to put myself in a position to be available the rest of the year.'
Regarding January, the former Fever icon and current assistant coach wants to make sure Clark takes her time in recovery, absorbs knowledge from the staff on both the sidelines and in coaching meetings, and observes the game from a different perspective.
'It's not just lace them up and hoop. Can't do that anymore, right?' January said. 'Like, the season is long, 44-game sprint. Taking care of your body is a real big priority. And I'm really proud of the way she's kind of been attacking this.'
'We [January and the 2015 Indiana coaching staff] were able to talk basketball and really dissect the game, and that helped me as a point guard come back. I came back from my ACL injury after being able to sit in those coaches meetings in 2012, and I played the best basketball I had up until that point. We won a championship. And so that sitting out really helped me. And so, just from my experience, trying to help Caitlin in that same regard, like talk through the game, help her see it in a different perspective.'
As Clark and the Fever continue through the 2025 season, hopefully, the wisdom and guidance of January will allow the Hawkeyes legend to prosper in an already impressive career.
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