Ahead of Iowa’s highly-anticipated game against UConn in Fiday’s Final Four, Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark is speaking out about her own athletic heroes. 

In a video shared by the NCAA, Clark and some of her teammates are asked what their phone screensavers are. While other players revealed photos of their family members and inspirational quotes, Clark, the leading scorer in college basketball history, said that hers is another sports phenom. 

“This is Michael Phelps, swimming in the Olympics,” she said, holding the device up for the interviewer to see. “He’s pretty tough.” 

Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time with 28 medals, responded to the video on social media. 

“Honored!!! This is so cool!” he gushed, tagging Clark in the post. 

During the video, Clark and her teammates were also asked for their best impression of their coach, Lisa Bluder, what advice they’d give young people, and which players have been the hardest to guard throughout their careers. In her response, Clark referenced UConn’s Paige Bueckers, who she’ll play against tonight. 

“Paige has been really good,” Clark said, before mentioning other teams like LSU, who the Haweyes recently beat in the Elite Eight round. 

The UConn-Iowa game will be played on Friday, April 5, 2024 at 9:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. PT). The game will be broadcast on ESPN and stream on ESPN. The winner of the game will advance to the championship game, which will be played on Sunday. 

Kerry Breen

Kerry Breen is a reporter and news editor at CBSNews.com. A graduate of New York University’s Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, she previously worked at NBC News’ TODAY Digital. She covers current events, breaking news and issues including substance use.