Some of the greatest shooters in basketball history have been bestowed onto Indiana basketball. This pedigree was maintained when the Indiana Fever selected Caitlin Clark with the first overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, bringing her up to the level of elite shooters on the city’s professional hoops teams among players like Tyrese Haliburton and Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers.
With 3,951 points, Clark became the all-time greatest scorer in collegiate basketball during her time at Iowa. Clark averaged 28.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 8.2 assists in 139 games—139 of which she started—during her four years with the Hawkeyes.
A sold-out crowd at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas witnessed Clark score 21 points in her Fever preseason debut against the Dallas Wings, falling 79-76. Fans of the Fever were treated to a sneak peek at Clark’s shooting as the rookie finished with three rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a 5-for-13 shooting clip from beyond the arc.
In an episode of The Dan Patrick Show, Reggie Miller—who rose to prominence for the Pacers in the late 1980s and early 2000s with his long-range sniping—said he would rather take Fever youngster Clark over Pacers player Tyrese Haliburton in a 3-point shooting competition. Miller narrowly selected Clark over Haliburton, citing the latter’s postseason setbacks, especially against the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.
When asked which of Haliburton and Clark he would pick right now, Miller responded, “Right now, I would say this: Tyrese [Haliburton] has been struggling with his three-point shots, I might go with Caitlin [Clark], I might go with Caitlin right now,” Patrick was asked.
But Miller wasn’t afraid to put his name above everyone else’s when Patrick included him and Indiana State great Larry Bird in the mix. Miller retorted, “Come on, you know me better than that.”
Tyrese Haliburton averaged 20.1 points and shot 36.4% from three-point range in 69 games during the 2023–24 campaign. However, he shot just 29.6% from three-point range and averaged 16.0 points in the opening round against the Milwaukee Bucks.
During his Hall of Fame career, which spanned 1,389 games over 18 seasons, Reggie Miller averaged 18.2 points per game while shooting 39.5% from 3-point range, all while playing for the Pacers. Along with Indiana State great Larry Bird, Miller is unquestionably one of the faces on the fictitious “Mount Rushmore” of deadeye shooters in Indiana. If things continue the way they are going, Miller, Bird, and Clark Haliburton might soon be included in that exclusive group.
Thursday, May 9, at 7:00 p.m. ET, marks the Fever’s preseason home debut against the Atlanta Dream. Caitlin Clark and the team are hoping to recover.
Diego de la Paz has spent the majority of his life immersed in sports. As a former varsity track and field athlete, he has had the exceptional opportunity to cover professional tennis, boxing, the NBA, and the UFC from the ground up during his journalism career. In his free time, he also works as a play-by-play announcer for leisure sports leagues.
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