On the court, Caitlin Clark is at the top of her game as the record-breaking scorer in NCAA women’s basketball.
But the Iowa Hawkeyes point guard is right in the middle of the mix back home — as the middle child in her family.
Clark, who at last count has amassed 3,617 points in her college hoops career, is the second of three athletic offspring for parents Brent Clark and Anne Nizzi-Clark, with her built-in fan base including one older brother and one younger brother.
Learn more about the siblings who grew up with one of the biggest stars in collegiate sports.
A family foundation
Athleticism runs in the Clark family, since long before Caitlin Clark or either of her brothers got into the team spirit.
Dad Brent Clark made a mark for himself in his college days, playing basketball and baseball at Simpson College in Iowa. According to the college, he was a four-year letterwinner for both teams from 1985 to 1988.
Later, he went on to coach his daughter in her early days in basketball.
On Nizzi-Clark’s side of the family, it’s grandpa Bob Nizzi who has a notable name in sports, having served as football coach at Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, the same school all three of the Clark kids attended.
Nizzi supports all of his grandchildren’s athletic efforts, and he frequently raves about his star granddaughter, who’s poised to soon break another NCAA record — for all-time points, regardless of gender.
“It’s just a marvelous thing to remember that she’s wired special,” Nizzi said in a 2023 interview with HawkFanatic. “Sometimes, there are special athletes that God has created, and God coaches and Caitlin Clark is one of those.”
Blake Clark
Caitlin Clark’s big brother, Blake Clark, is an “old soul,” according to their father in a 2021 interview with Iowa's The Gazette. But to his famous sister, the former quarterback for the Iowa State Cyclones is more of a role model.
“He was super athletic, but he wasn’t the most skilled, the most talented,” Caitlin Clark once recalled to The Gazette of Blake’s efforts on the field back in high school. “He just really outworked people, and I think that’s kind of what I admire about him and what drove me when I was young.”
And the admiration goes both ways.
“I think she’s just very outgoing and confident as a person,” Blake Clark told the outlet of his sister. “I think that’s apparent on the court, she plays with a lot of confidence. There’s not a shot she doesn’t think she can take or make. And she just kind of plays with a swagger, she doesn’t care if she’s missing shots, she trusts that the next one’s going to go in.”
Colin Clark
The younger of Caitlin Clark’s siblings is Colin Clark, also known as the other basketball player in the family.
Before graduating in the spring of 2023, Colin played hoops for Dowling Catholic High School, just as his big sister did before him.
“I think Blake and Caitlin are always watching him online and following him, too,” mom Nizzi-Clark said of Colin to The Gazette in 2021. “That is probably even more special to watch, and take the time to come back and watch him and support him, and beat up on him a little bit, too.”
As to that last point, Colin is probably used to it by now.
While attending one of his sister’s games, Colin smiled as he remembered an incident from a one-on-one when they were young, telling ESPN, “There was a loose ball, and (Caitlin) ended up shoving me into a corner of a basement wall. Split my head open, got four staples.”
How does Caitlin Clark’s brother know Brock Purdy?
While Caitlin Clark only has two brothers, one of them can count another rising sports star as almost a sibling to him. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy recently revealed his close bond with Caitlin Clark’s big brother.
“Blake Clark is a great friend of mine,” Purdy told reporters in the lead-up to the Super Bowl. “He’s going to be at my wedding. He’s the man. Yeah, I love him. He was one of my best friends for four years at Iowa State.”
As for Caitlin Clark, Purdy got to know her through Blake.
“We’d always watch her and what a baller she was from day one,” he said. “Obviously, from high school, we knew she was going to be a game-changer. So, to see her now absolutely killing it, I couldn’t be happier for her.”