Iowa’s Kate Martin had quite the 2024 WNBA draft.
While the guard attended the event on Monday without an official invite to support her teammate and surefire No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark, she ended up hearing her own name called when the Las Vegas Aces selected in the second round with the 18th overall pick:
Bleacher Report @BleacherReport
Iowa guard Kate Martin said she came to the WNBA draft to support Caitlin Clark but was hoping to get her name called.
She ended up getting drafted by the Aces 😱
What a moment ❤️
(via @AliyahFun) pic.twitter.com/AHzxm69MLN
Aliyah Funschelle @AliyahFun
STORYTIME ABOUT KATE MARTIN BEING DRAFTED ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/qNU5Zg3GTX
As the video from insider Aliyah Funschelle pointed out, it started to become clear to those sitting around Martin that she would be drafted when she was asked to move seats to a more visible one at the end of the row.
Gabbie Marshall and Jada Gyamfi were also there to support Clark, but they got the opportunity to celebrate with their other teammate as well thanks to this development.
It was a culmination of a trip to New York for the draft that also saw Marshall, Gyamfi and Martin make an appearance on stage at Saturday Night Live after Clark participated in the “Weekend Update” section.
Martin, like all the Hawkeyes, was overshadowed by Clark’s record-setting excellence throughout the 2023-24 campaign, but she was integral to their run to the Big Ten tournament title and national championship game.
She averaged 13.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists while connecting on 50.7 percent of her field-goal attempts and 37 percent of her three-pointers. Her ability to take advantage of the openings created by playing alongside Clark helped Iowa stretch the floor even more and punish opposing defenses that focused too much attention on No. 22.
Taking advantage of spacing created by talented teammates will work perfectly in Las Vegas.
After all, the Aces are back-to-back champions with a long list of superstars in A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Candace Parker, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray, among others. They also added Syracuse’s Dyaisha Fair with the No. 16 pick.
Fair was a Third-Team All-American this past season when she averaged 22.3 points per game for the Orange.
As for Martin, she arrived at the draft as a supportive teammate unsure of her own individual future. And she left as a member of the back-to-back champions.
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