Kate Martin Selected in 2nd Round of the 2024 WNBA Draft
Kate Martin was known as "the glue" during her six years in Iowa City: a tireless, consummate leader who did whatever her team needed her to do to be successful. She was a master of the little things at Iowa, scrambling for loose balls, tipping rebounds to teammates, making the extra pass and leading vocally.
Now Martin will look to take those skills to the next level. On Monday, the Las Vegas Aces selected Martin with the sixth pick of the 2nd round (18th overall).
Martin was a fixture in the Iowa lineup for the past five seasons, starting 30+ games in each of the past four seasons. Martin's best season was her most recent campaign; she averaged 13.1 ppg, 6.8 rpg, and 2.3 apg, while shooting a career-best 50.7% from the floor (and 37% from 3-point range).
A quintessential stat-sheet stuffer, Martin did a little bit of everything during her Hawkeye career and became the first Iowa player ever to finish with 900+ points, 500+ rebounds, 400+ assists, 120+ steals, and 60+ blocks for her career. Whatever you needed from Martin in a given situation -- a bucket, a rebound, an assist, a steal, a block -- she was liable to provide it.
Standing 6'0" tall, Martin profiles as a guard in the WNBA, though she often played on the wing or as a de facto big in Iowa's four-guard lineups. That probably won't be an option when playing opponents with as much size and skill as WNBA bigs will bring to the table. Still, Martin was a consistently strong rebounder even as an undersized player in college, and like Clark can make herself effective on the glass through quickness and intuition even if she can't beat most W forwards vertically.
Indeed, two of Martin's biggest strengths are her hustle and her tenacity, but she's also a very skilled player as well.
Martin's assist totals weren't overwhelming, but that's more a function of playing next to Caitlin Clark for four seasons than it is a knock on her passing ability, which is very capable. She's also a strong rebounder, with a good sense of angles and timing. Martin is a capable spot-up shooter as well, as she showed in Iowa's comeback win over Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament championship game.
In Las Vegas, Martin will join another former Hawkeye, in Megan Gustafson.
Martin is the second Iowa player to be taken in the 2024 WNBA Draft, after (of course) Caitlin Clark, who was selected #1 overall by the Indiana Fever. She becomes the 16th former Hawkeye to hear her name called in the WNBA Draft.
2024: Caitlin Clark (R1, 1), Kate Martin (R2, 18)
2023: Monika Czinano (R3, 26)
2020: Kathleen Doyle (R2, 14)
2019: Megan Gustafson (R2, 17)
2015: Samantha Logic (R1, 10)
2011: Kachine Alexander (R3, 26)
2006: Crystal Smith (R3, 32)
2002: Lindsey Meder (R3, 38)
2001: Cara Consuegra (R4, 56)
1999: Amy Herrig (R4 38)
1998: Tangela Smith (R2, 12), Nadine Domond (R2, 19), Angela Hamblin (R3, 23)
1997: Toni Foster (R1, 8), Tia Jackson (R2, 9)
With just 144 roster spots available at present, the WNBA is the most competitive North American sports league. Just making a roster, let alone earning significant playing time, is a significant accomplishment. As a second/third round pick, Martin faces fairly long odds to earn a roster spot in the league.
Moreover, even if Martin doesn't have a long professional playing career in front of her, just the experience of being around the operations of a team at the highest level of the sport will undoubtedly help her prepare for a career on the sidelines.
But there's no sense in closing the book on Martin's career before she has the chance to compete for it, either. After all, you wouldn't want to bet against "The Glue" finding a way to... stick around.