Holly Rowe reveals 'odd story' about Teagan Kavan, Caitlin Clark connection from hometown

When Teagan Kavan was growing up in West Des Moines, Iowa, she had a neighbor with whom she played basketball. Caitlin Clark came out of the town before committing to Iowa and kicking off a historic career into the WNBA.

Clark graduated from Iowa in 2024 and is now in her second season in the W. Kavan, meanwhile, is in her second Women’s College World Series and is looking to lead Texas to a national title.

The two share quite a connection from their hometown. In fact, Kavan didn’t play softball at Dowling Catholic because it conflicted with basketball, ESPN’s Holly Rowe shared on the broadcast. As a result, she played travel ball before heading to Texas.

“Kavan, as you mentioned, grew up just a couple of doors down – in fact, Caitlin Clark’s dad, Brent, was asking me, ‘How’s Teagan Kavan doing?'” Rowe said on the broadcast. “She’s doing very well. … It’s such an odd story. She actually played basketball at that school, but she didn’t play softball because their season is in the summer. She ended up just playing travel ball.”

Kavan put herself on the map as a club softball player for Iowa Premier Fastpitch. She became Perfect Game’s No. 5 overall player in its Top 50 Class of 2023 as she recorded 1,444 strikeouts over 772.2 innings pitch. She also threw six no-hitters and 45 shutouts during her travel ball career.

Kavan then arrived at Texas in 2024 as a true freshman and burst onto the college scene. She had a 20-3 record in 2024 while also finishing with a 2.20 ERA and 135 strikeouts. Entering Wednesday, Kavan had a 26-5 record, a 2.33 ERA and 224 strikeouts as a sophomre.

At the same time Kavan’s college career started, Clark was putting a bow on her record-setting run at Iowa. That season, she surpassed Pete Maravich as the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer while leading Iowa back to the national championship.

Clark then became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft to the Indiana Fever and kept the momentum going into the professional level. She won the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year award as she became the first rookie to ever record a triple-double. She averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 8.4 assists to lead Indiana to its first playoff berth since 2016, and she’s well on her way toward a leap forward this year.

Through four games to start the 2025-26 season, Clark is averaging 19 points, 6.0 rebounds and 9.3 assists. However, she is out two weeks with a quad injury – her first games missed at the WNBA level.