Caitlin Clark’s offseason took her to State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill., on Thursday night, Nov. 5. The Indiana Fever star watched No. 3 Illinois beat Penn 112-70, and two Illinois freshmen who played in the game learned only afterward that she had been there.

Quentin Coleman, who scored 19 points, and Zavier Zens found out at their postgame news conference. Coleman’s reaction mixed surprise with a theory about what her presence meant for the night’s shooting, and Illinois coach Brad Underwood had some fun with her visit as well.

Quentin Coleman and Zavier Zens React to Caitlin Clark’s Visit

Coleman made 8 of his 9 shots from the field. It was only the second game of his college career, and of Zens’ as well. The two were among five Illinois newcomers to reach double figures against Penn.

Both freshmen speak in a clip of the exchange posted Friday, the day after the game, and Coleman does most of the talking. He met the news with disbelief, then thought of his sister: “Wait, wait, wait. Caitlin Clark was in the building? Wait, why was she here? Yo. I didn’t know she was here. I gotta tell my sister, bro.”

The answer to Coleman’s question about why she was there sat on the visiting bench. Her boyfriend, Connor McCaffery, is the son of Penn coach Fran McCaffery, and he came with her. Thursday’s game was Penn’s season opener.

Coleman then tied Clark to the way his classmate shot the ball: “Yo, Caitlin Clark. I mean, shoot. I mean, for him, [Zens] was shooting lights out. She shoots lights out. So I guess [Zens] felt that.”

Zens, the classmate Coleman singled out, finished with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 4 of 8 from the 3-point range, and has made multiple 3-pointers in each of his first two college games. Coleman’s own eight field goals all came inside the arc, and together the two made 14 of their 19 shots.

“So I didn’t know she was here. That’s crazy,” Zens said.

Coleman closed the exchange with one more thought on the surprise guest: “Dang, she just, she brought the aura in the room.”

Brad Underwood Imagines a Three-Point Contest Between Famous Guests

Underwood paired Clark with another famous guest at the game, former NBA star Peja Stojaković, whose son Andrej plays guard for Illinois.

“We should have had a three-point contest to see who really the best shooter in the gym was, because it wasn’t anybody who played tonight,” Underwood joked.

His line came after a night in which Illinois shot 58.9% from the field, to Penn’s 29.1%, and made 37% of its 3-pointers.

The players he ruled out included Andrej Stojakovic, who led all scorers with 25 points while his father looked on, as well as Coleman and Zens.

To Underwood, Clark’s career at Iowa, a fellow Big Ten school, and in the WNBA has been “pretty spectacular.” “It’s cool,” he said. “That’s part of being at this level, and it’s something we probably take for granted sometimes, and probably shouldn’t.”

Clark, whose Fever season ended with an October 1 playoff loss to the Las Vegas Aces, watched two Illinois freshmen combine for 37 points in only their second college game. Their 19 and 18 points ranked second and third on the team, behind only Stojakovic. Neither knew she was in the building until the game was over.