This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO -- During my recent phone interview with Kylie Feuerbach, I had to ask her about Caitlin Clark.

Feuerbach is one of 12 members of the 2024 CHISOX Athletes, which is the organization’s NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) program for student-athletes from top NCAA Division I programs across the Midwest. She has been part of it for three years, since the program’s inception, so there lies the focus of this story.

The native of Sycamore, Ill., located approximately 73 miles from Guaranteed Rate Field, also was a contributor on the 2023-24 Iowa women’s basketball team that reached the NCAA national championship game before losing to unbeaten South Carolina. If you are part of the Hawkeyes, questions about one of the most dynamic and transformative athletes in recent memory are going to ensue.

“Yeah, that is definitely the most popular question,” Feuerbach said, with a laugh, about Clark. “It’s been literally amazing. She’s the kind of player who makes every player around her better.

“She has paved the way within Iowa women’s basketball, within the basketball world, anything you can think of. She’s a generational talent and the GOAT. So, getting to play with her has been pretty awesome.”

Feuerbach, 22, has two years of eligibility remaining at Iowa, although she soon will graduate with a major in marketing. She will also work toward a master's degree in strategic communications.

Those degrees align well with the opportunities provided as a CHISOX Athlete, which was “created to help empower student-athletes, their voices and careers both on and off the field.” The nine new CHISOX Athlete members are:

• Robbie Avila (Indiana State men’s basketball, Oak Forest High School)
• Pat Coogan (Notre Dame football, Marist High School)
• Malik Elzy (Illinois football, Simeon High School)
• Berkley Mensik (Notre Dame women’s soccer, Dundee-Crown High School)
• Rylie Mills (Notre Dame football, Lake Forest High School)
• Abbey Murphy (Minnesota women’s hockey, Mother McAuley High School)
• Jack Olsen (Northwestern football, Wheaton Warrenville High School)
• Matt Ramos (Purdue men’s wrestling, Lockport High School)
• Carnell Tate (Ohio State football, Marist High School)

Yulexi Diaz (Illinois-Chicago women’s soccer, Eric Solorio Academy) and Skyla Schulte (Michigan State women’s gymnastics, Plainfield East High School) join Feuerbach as returnees. They promote the White Sox brand through social-media posts, as an example, and get “so many cool things” in return, as Feuerbach explained.

That list for Feuerbach featured throwing the first pitch before a White Sox game last August and then getting to watch the game from a suite. There also was a special photoshoot and career-enhancement possibilities.

“I always have the opportunity to shadow them, which is really cool for me,” Feuerbach said. “My schedule gets busy in the summer, but weekends I’m free, and even just being able to go to one or two things and just getting a feel for how it all works [is valuable], because I could definitely see myself staying within the sports marketing world, especially the first couple of years out.

“Obviously, they’ve all been very welcoming, very accepting of all of us. It’s a great opportunity.”

Playing alongside Clark became an experience ranked a notch above that; it’s something Feuerbach has been doing since high school on the same All-Iowa Attack AAU team. Clark was the No. 1 pick of the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA Draft, but even with her departure from the Hawkeyes, memories from their experiences across the country will never fade.

“If you talk to her, you would never even think she has the status that she does. She’s very, very cool and collected and she’s fun to be around,” Feuerbach said. “She’s awesome. She’s been great.

“Honestly, it was pretty surreal. It’s a crazy thing to wrap your mind around. I’m just a small part of the team, but people reach out and talk about how much of an impact that we had on them -- even just the viewership we’ve been seeing throughout this run. The experience overall has just been amazing.”