The neon lights of New York City flickered like a thousand stars in a sky that never darkened. Caitlin Clark, a self-made billionaire with a net worth in the billions, leaned back in her penthouse office, gazing at the city skyline. The deal she had just secured was worth over a billion dollars—another notch on her belt, another victory to add to her growing empire. Yet, for reasons she couldn’t understand, a strange emptiness gnawed at her.
Her assistant, Lauren, walked in with a confident smile, holding a stack of papers. “Ms. Clark, your flight to Tennessee is ready. Shall I prepare the jet?”
Caitlin didn’t respond immediately. Instead, she stared out the window, watching the lights of the city reflect off the glass. Then she made a decision. “Cancel the flight,” she said, her voice carrying an unfamiliar resolve. “I’m staying a bit longer.”
Lauren raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised. “Ma’am, the meeting in Tennessee is critical.”
“I’ll handle it from here. Change of plans,” Caitlin replied, her mind already set on the next step. Her driver, Charles, arrived shortly after, and Caitlin climbed into the black luxury car. As the vehicle drove away from the city, her thoughts drifted to a place she had been trying to forget—the town of Nashville, Tennessee, where it all began.
She hadn’t been back in over a decade. The place where she was once just a girl with big dreams felt like both home and a prison. The car rolled through familiar streets, past the library where she spent hours reading business magazines she couldn’t afford, and the street corner where she hustled selling newspapers just to make ends meet. Then, as the car neared the end of the street, her heart skipped a beat.
Maggie’s Diner looked the same; time had not touched it. The neon sign still flickered weakly, and the same worn-out red booths remained inside. Caitlin’s breath caught in her throat. This was the place where she had made a promise to herself as a teenager: “I’ll never come back until I have everything.” But now, here she was.
“Charles, stop here,” Caitlin ordered, her voice distant, almost as if she were talking to someone else. “I’ll be a minute.”
The door jingled as Caitlin entered the diner, and the familiar scent of coffee and grilled food hit her instantly. The atmosphere hadn’t changed—cozy, old-fashioned, and timeless. She took a seat at the corner booth, the very one where she had spent countless nights dreaming of a life she could never afford. As she stared out the window, memories flooded back: her dreams of escaping this small town, the weight of her family struggles, the desire to prove she was meant for something more.
Her thoughts were interrupted when a soft voice broke the silence. “What can I get you, ma’am?” Caitlin looked up, and for a moment, time seemed to stand still. The waitress before her had dark brown hair pulled into a messy bun, wearing a simple uniform that was no different from the one she had seen countless times growing up. But there was something about her—something too familiar.
It was Sarah Thompson, the same Sarah who had been the brightest, most ambitious girl in school, the one who had always dreamed of something bigger than this small town. But now she looked different—worn, tired. Her once vibrant green eyes had lost their fire.
“Steak and coffee,” Caitlin said, her voice betraying the shock she felt. Sarah scribbled down the order and walked away, and Caitlin couldn’t help but watch her. She hadn’t seen Sarah in over ten years. Back then, they had been friends—no more than friends—but they had shared dreams, plans, and hopes for the future.
When Sarah returned with Caitlin’s meal, Caitlin didn’t wait. “Sarah?”
She froze, her eyes scanning Caitlin’s face with confusion. “How do you know my name?”
“Westwood High, class of 01,” Caitlin replied. Recognition flashed in her eyes, and her hand trembled slightly as she sat down. “Caitlin… Caitlin Clark?”
Caitlin smiled, but it wasn’t the confident smile of the billionaire she had become; it was the smile of a girl who had never forgotten her.
“I never thought I’d see you again,” Sarah said, her voice tinged with disbelief. “You made it out. I always knew you would.”
Caitlin’s gaze softened. “I didn’t expect you to be here.”
She shrugged, her smile hollow. “Well, some of us don’t get second chances, do we?”
They talked for hours, but as the conversation shifted, Sarah’s demeanor changed. She became quieter, more guarded. Caitlin could sense that something was wrong—something she wasn’t saying. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. “Sarah, what happened to you? You were going to change the world.”
She hesitated, then with a heavy sigh, shared the painful truth. “My father passed away when I was in my second year at Harvard,” Sarah said, her voice shaky. “After that, things fell apart. My mother got sick, and I had to drop out to take care of her. My little brother was still in school, and I had to provide for them, so I took any job I could find. And now I’m here, working at Maggie’s Diner.”
Caitlin’s chest tightened. She hadn’t known the girl she had once admired, the one who had been so full of life and potential, had been living a life full of pain and sacrifice. The girl who had always had the world at her feet was now struggling to survive.
“And you’re still here?” Caitlin asked, her heart aching for her old friend.
In that moment, Caitlin made a decision that would change both their lives forever. She reached into her purse and pulled out her business card. “Sarah, I want to help you. You have so much potential, and I can’t let you stay here like this. Let’s talk about your dreams. I can help you get back on your feet.”
Sarah looked at the card, her eyes wide with disbelief. “Caitlin, I… I don’t know what to say.”
“Just say you’ll think about it,” Caitlin replied, her voice steady. “You deserve a second chance, just like I did.”
As they sat together in that diner, surrounded by the ghosts of their past, Caitlin knew that this was the moment she had been waiting for—not just to reconnect with an old friend, but to make a difference in someone’s life. And for the first time in a long while, the emptiness inside her began to fade.
‘She can’t help herself’ – Caitlin Clark’s stunned high school coaches saw ‘the female Steph Curry’
Caitlin Clark’s high school coach Scott Babinat knew he was witnessing greatness right away.
He took over a new assistant coaching job at Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, in 016.
Clark was destined for greatness from a young ageCredit: Getty
Moving from the Bay Area, the veteran coach of 0-plus years had an immediate comp for his new talisman – NBA great Steph Curry.
“You’re never going to believe this, but we are coaching a player that will become the female version of Steph Curry in many people’s minds,” Babinat recalled telling a friend over the phone in 016 in an interview with Athlon Sports.
Head coach Kristin Meyer saw a confidence and basketball IQ that set Clark apart from her teenage peers, as well as a fierce competitive streak.
That sometimes led her to call out teammates or referees.
“She understood that it wasn’t good. It didn’t help the team. It didn’t help her play better,” Meyer revealed.
“But also, she gets so into the moment that she can’t help herself.”
Teammate Ella McVey, who went on to play softball for the University of Michigan, said Clark was “always three or four steps ahead” of her teammates and officials which often led to dropped passes or missed calls.
“Because she’s so hard to guard, the opponent is fouling her pretty much every single possession, at least one or two times, because she’s just so much more skilled and quicker and knows how to get people off balance,” Meyer said.
“But also, as a ref, you can’t call every single one, or, you know, the game doesn’t get to be played, right?”
Clark was also already approaching the game like a pro.
Clark has always had a competitive streakCredit: Getty
She turned up early to do extra shooting and had already watched film on her opponents before the team sessions.
“I feel like all the greats kind of have that tendency where it’s like, when they flip the switch, they’re in kill mode,” McVey added.
“But not only does Caitlin have that quality, but she also has the quality of being a sister, being a daughter, being a friend to a lot of the people in her life.
“Something I think people need to recognize is that she’s just a person.”
“She never asked to come out of a game,” Meyer added. “Usually, when she’d come out, it only took about 0 seconds before she’d just kind of turn and say, ‘Can I go back in now?’
“I’ve never met someone who loves the game as much as her.”
Clark has been playing in front of sold-out arenas, facing hecklers and double blocks since she was 16.
But whether it was high school, college, or the WNBA, nobody has figured out a way to stop her yet.
The WNBA Rookie of the Year’s dedication to improving her game means she never stands still no matter what is thrown at her.
She earned praise from fans for deciding to sit out of the lucrative Unrivaled league in order to come back fresh for her sophomore campaign.
She has been putting in the work in the gym and looks to have added muscle in recent training videos, which should leave the Indiana Fever guard’s opponents with a case of the chills.
