Caitlin Clark knew about Celtic Luka Garza’s long-range shooting potential

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, perhaps the most popular player in women’s basketball history and Garza’s former University of Iowa schoolmate, shared D’Amico’s post with an addendum.

“I knew,” Clark wrote.

In the 2020-21 season, Clark was a freshman for the Hawkeyes women’s basketball team and Garza was a senior for the men’s squad. Garza went on to become the national player of the year, and Clark later received the honor twice and led the country in scoring in all four seasons.

Clark also happens to be dating Garza’s best friend and former teammate, Connor McCaffery, who is now an assistant coach at Butler, so she and Garza became close even outside of their basketball connection. Last summer, Garza went to a Fever game in Los Angeles, and he said he and Clark are in touch often.

“That year together we all were around each other, and with our basketball teams I’d go and support her games and she’d come watch us,” Garza said. “We just supported each other and hung out a lot. I’ve been in the gym watching her work out, and she’s definitely come and seen practice and workouts and just been around.”

Garza could not recall completing a basketball workout with Clark at Iowa, but he said he always admired her approach and even extracted some lessons from it.

“The numbers she was putting up were incredible, one of the best athletes in general I’ve ever been able to watch,” Garza said. “It’s obviously so impressive what she’s done, and she’s the greatest Hawkeye basketball player ever. So, it’s been a privilege to watch her and see her game develop. I think the confidence level she has is just so impressive. With me, I’ve always tried to work on, even if you miss a couple, just continue to stay in it and keep firing. I’d say that’s something [Clark excels at].”

Garza made just 49 of 156 3-pointers in limited opportunities with the Pistons and Timberwolves over his first four NBA seasons. This season, he is shooting a blistering 21 for 41 (51.2 percent) and already has set his career high for made 3-pointers.

Garza said that since his playing time has been sparse for much of his NBA career, he has used summers to refine his long-range jumper. He thinks the favorable results recently are partly a result of having better rhythm on his followthrough. He also is being careful not to force anything.

“I think a lot of times in the past, when I hadn’t played in a while and just got in and wanted to make an impact, I’d rush shots or stuff like that,” Garza said. “This year, I’m doing a better job of pacing into each shot.”

When the Celtics played the Spurs on Saturday night, coach Joe Mazzulla mostly kept Garza in the game whenever San Antonio superstar Victor Wembanyama was on the floor. Garza almost never guarded Wembanyama, but he was deployed because he is a long-range threat and could pull the elite shot-blocker away from the rim, helping clear space for other Celtics.

For now, teams remain skeptical of Garza’s 3-point shooting. On 33 of his 41 attempts, no defender has been within 6 feet of him. But he will keep firing as long as these chances are open.

“We have so many guys on this team that can shoot the ball at a high level, so I’ll let them take the hard ones, and when the opportunity presents itself, I’ll step in there and knock it down,” Garza said. “But at the same time, I know there’s a lot of things I can do to impact the game, and hanging out at the perimeter doesn’t always let me do that. So, I always like to mix it up and take what the game gives me.”

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.