Kate Marie Martin (born June 5, 2000) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Golden State Valkyries The Golden State Valkyries are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Valkyries compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team began play in the 2025 se ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA). She played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 20 sports, 7 for men and 13 for women; The teams participate in Division I of the Nati ...

. She was selected in the second round (18th overall) by the

Las Vegas Aces The Las Vegas Aces are an American professional basketball team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Aces compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team plays its home game ...

in the 2024 WNBA draft. Martin attended

Edwardsville High School Edwardsville Senior High School is a public high school located in Edwardsville, Illinois. History Edwardsville High School was first located on North Kansas Street in downtown Edwardsville. Due to the expansion of the town, a new high school ...

in her hometown of

Edwardsville, Illinois Edwardsville is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 26,808 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city was named in honor of Ninian Edwards, former governor of the Illinois Te ...

. Martin captained the

for four seasons, playing alongside two-time national player of the year,

Caitlin Clark Caitlin Elizabeth Clark (born January 22, 2002) is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Regarded as one of the greatest female collegiate players, Clark was tw ...

. She helped lead Iowa to their first national championship game as a senior in 2023 and helped

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

return to the national title game the following year.

Early life

Martin was born on June 5, 2000, and grew up in Granite City and

. She is the youngest of three children born to teachers Matt and Jill Martin. Martin started playing basketball at age five, participating in local recreational leagues and playing pickup at the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

. Starting in elementary school, she frequented basketball camps at

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

every summer and slept with an Iowa women's basketball poster above her childhood bed. Martin also played boys'

tackle football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, th ...

in elementary school and later took up

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. Her dad was one of her first coaches, coaching her and her siblings' basketball teams up until the seventh grade, as well as Martin's football team. In middle school, Martin began attending "Junior Hawk" and Iowa basketball camps every summer as a participant. In fourth grade, Martin joined her local AAU basketball program and went on to play for the Blue Star St. Louis (now known as the

Napheesa Collier Napheesa Collier ( ; born September 23, 1996), nicknamed "Phee", is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Collier is also a founder of the Unrivaled (basketball le ...

Elite) throughout high school. In seventh grade, Martin led her basketball team to the 2012 Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) Class 4A state championship game, losing by three points in the final. That same year, she helped her middle school volleyball team win the 2013 seventh-grade IESA Class 4A state championship in straight sets. The following year, Martin's basketball team claimed victory at the 2013 eighth grade IESA Class 4A state championship, finishing with an undefeated 28–0 season, while her volleyball team placed third at the 2014 eighth grade state championship.

High school

Martin played four years of varsity basketball for

, under head coach Lori Blade. During her freshman season, Edwardsville went 30–1, winning the Southwestern Conference (SWC), regional, and sectional titles before falling to the eventual state champions,

Benet Academy Benet Academy ( ) is a private, highly competitive, co-educational, college-preparatory, Benedictine high school in Lisle, Illinois, United States, overseen by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet in Illinois, Diocese of Joliet. Founded in 1886, ...

(and Martin's future

teammate Kathleen Doyle), in the Class 4A state quarterfinals. As a freshman, Martin did not see many minutes on the court, coming off the bench and averaging 6.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. Her game continued to mature, and she made herself into a guaranteed starter for her remaining three years at Edwardsville. During her

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

year in postseason play, Martin helped Edwardsville defeat

Rock Island High School Rock Island High School, also known as "Rocky", is a public four-year high school located in Rock Island, Illinois, United States. Rocky is within the Rock Island–Milan School District 41, and the school colors are crimson and gold. Administr ...

in the sectional championship by holding their freshman guard, Brea Beal, pointless in the first quarter. Despite Martin's 13-point contribution in the game, her team suffered a second straight state quarterfinal loss to

, the eventual back-to-back 2016 state champions. Martin earned Class 4A All-State fourth-team accolades from the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA). As a junior, Martin surpassed 1,000 career points and averaged 12.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 2.7 steals per game. The number-one-ranked Edwardsville team finished their 2016–17 season with a 32–1 record, reaching the Class 4A state championship final where they were upset by Geneva Community High School, losing 41–40 on a last-second shot. Martin was named to the IBCA All-State Class 4A second-team and was selected as an

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

(AP) All-State honorable mention at the conclusion of her junior season. As a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

, Martin averaged 16.2 points, 5.9

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

, 2.9 assists, and 2.1 steals per game with 63.9 field-goal, 50.9 three-point, and 80 free-throw percentages. As team captain, Martin led the number-one-ranked Edwardsville team to their fourth consecutive SWC, regional, and sectional titles, and their second consecutive super-sectional championship title. Her team finished the 2017–18 season with a 30–2 record and reached their second consecutive Class 4A semifinal, ultimately finishing fourth in postseason tournament play. At the end of her senior year, Martin's class finished with an overall record of 122–6, going undefeated at home all four years. Martin led her team with the most points,

, and assists during her senior season and ended her high school basketball career with the fourth-most points (1,518) in

history. She received the 5th most votes for Illinois Miss Basketball 2018 award (losing the honor to Beal) and was named to both the

and the IBCA Class 4A All-State first-teams as a senior. Martin also played four years of varsity volleyball as an outside hitter at Edwardsville. She helped lead her team to 108 wins, two SWC titles, two regional championships, and a sectional championship. She finished her high school volleyball career with a new school record for career block assists (194) and was also named to the All-SWC first-team her senior year.

Recruiting

Martin was first recruited by

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

basketball programs during her sophomore year of high school, receiving an offer from Bradley. During her high school career, she continued to receive offers from Division I programs including DePaul,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, among others. During her junior year, she was recruited by

as a 2–3 (

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

). On her car ride home from her official weekend visit at

, Martin called the coaching staff and verbally committed to the Hawkeyes. She announced this verbal commitment on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

in May 2017. Martin formally signed her letter of intent in November 2017 and received a full

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private school, private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the U ...

from the university. By the end of her high school career, Martin was considered a three-

star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

recruit with a scouting grade of 90 by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. In interviews, Martin stated playing for

was "always the goal" and that committing to play there was "a no-brainer". In sixth grade for an English assignment, she wrote a letter for her future self to be opened after graduating high school in which she wrote, "Hi Kate. When you're reading this, I hope you have committed to play basketball at the

College career

Redshirt year (2018–19)

In June 2018, it was announced that Martin had torn her left

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

(ACL) and

lateral meniscus The lateral meniscus (external semilunar fibrocartilage) is a fibrocartilaginous band that spans the lateral side of the interior of the knee joint. It is one of two menisci of the knee, the other being the medial meniscus. It is nearly circular ...

in a collision during practice for the IBCA high school all-star game and would miss the entire 2018–19 season. She received an additional year of eligibility after redshirting. Iowa finished their

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

with a 29–7 record, won the 2019 Big Ten tournament title, and advanced to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament (losing to the eventual national champs, Baylor, 85–53).

Freshman season (2019–20)

On November 7, 2019, Martin made her collegiate debut in a 85–53 win over Florida Atlantic. From the bench, she played in 24 games (averaging 8.1 minutes per game). The Hawkeyes ended the year with a 23–7 record, an undefeated record on

home court In sports, home is the place and sport venue, venue identified with a sports team. Most professional teams are named for, and marketed to, particular metropolitan areas; amateur teams may be drawn from a particular region, or from institutio ...

, and a third-place finish in the regular season in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. On March 12, 2020, the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

canceled the 2020 women's basketball tournament due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, effectively ending the 2019–20 season.

Sophomore season (2020–21)

With the graduation of three of Iowa's 2019–20 starters, Martin moved into Iowa's starting line-up and started all 30 games alongside incoming freshman

. She was also named team captain for the 2020–21 season. During the January 3 game against

, Martin broke her nose after being hit in the face by a basketball and wore a protective transparent plastic mask for six weeks. She broke her nose again in early February after a practice squad player "threw a beautiful bullet pass right to erface", extending her mask use a few additional weeks. In her first game back without her mask, Martin posted her first career

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the ter ...

for Iowa with a career-best 19 points (going 5-for-5 on three-pointers) with 11 assists and five

in a decisive 96–78 win over

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

on February 18. At the end of the regular season, Martin averaged 30.7 minutes, 7.0 points, and 4.3 rebounds per game with a season total of 110 assists and 34 steals. Martin helped Iowa reach the Big Ten tournament championship game where they ultimately fell to

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

in an 104–84 loss. In the first round of the 2021 NCAA tournament, Martin got off to a quick start, registering 8 points in the first six minutes in

's 87–72 win over

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula of the United States, U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said t ...

. Iowa went on to face number-one-seeded

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

in the Sweet Sixteen, losing to the Huskies 92–72. Martin was named to the Academic All-Big Ten team and also was selected as

's women's basketball honoree for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award and won the Iowa's 2021 Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award, alongside Mekhi Sargent.

Junior season (2021–22)

Entering her junior season, Martin again was named team captain and started all 32 games for Iowa alongside Clark, averaging 30 minutes per game. After helping Iowa earn the Big Ten regular season championship title (shared with

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

), Martin put on a commanding performance in the 2022 Big Ten tournament, averaging 12.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game in the tournament. On March 4, 2022, in the quarterfinal match-up, she recorded 15 points, six assists, and five rebounds in Iowa's 71–59 win over Northwestern. Martin grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds with eight points and five assists in the semifinal win over

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

on March 5. Iowa claimed the Big Ten tournament title by defeating

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

74–67. With this title win, Iowa automatically qualified for the 2022 NCAA tournament and was named the number two seed for the Greensboro Region. Her team was upset by 10th-seed Creighton in the second round of the NCAA tournament in a 64–62 loss. As a redshirt junior, she averaged 7.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game. At the end of the academic year, she was selected as Iowa's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree for women's basketball for the second consecutive year, earned Academic All-Big Ten honors, was a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (for maintaining 4.0 GPA during the academic term), and was named to the

Dean's List A dean's list is an academic award, or distinction, used to recognize the highest level scholarship demonstrated by students in a college or university. This system is most often used in North America, though institutions in Europe, Asia, and Aust ...

Senior season (2022–23)

Martin continued her tenure as team captain and started all 38 games for the Hawkeyes beside Clark for the third consecutive season. During a preseason practice in early November, Martin was elbowed in the face by a practice squad player and broke her nose for the third time in her college career. In the November 27 game against

, Martin scored a career-high 20 points, going 6-for-6 on three-pointers. On December 21, as her teammate

, surpassed 2,000 career points, Martin registered a career-high 13 assists during

's 92–54 win over Dartmouth. She recorded her 600th career point on January 7 in a win over

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. A few weeks later on January 23, Iowa gave No. 2 AP-ranked

their first loss of the season, with Martin recording her first double-double of the season (13 points and 11 rebounds). On February 26 in Iowa's final regular season game against No. 2

(featured on ESPN's College GameDay), Martin contributed 19 points and 4 assists before Clark secured the victory with a game-winning three-point

buzzer beater In timed sports, a buzzer beater is a successful shot made as the clock expires at the end of a period or at the end of the game, leaving zero seconds remaining. A buzzer sounds whenever a game clock expires, hence the name "buzzer beater." In b ...

. In the semifinal matchup against No. 5

in the 2023 Big Ten tournament, Martin tallied 10 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, a near triple-double. She helped

win their second consecutive Big Ten tournament title, handily defeating

105–72 in the championship game. For the 2023 NCAA tournament, Iowa was named the top number two seed and competed in the Seattle regional. In the Sweet Sixteen, Iowa defeated 6th seed

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, 87–77, with Martin knocking down 16 points, registering six rebounds, and leading Iowa with a personal plus/minus score of +17. With their 97–83 win over

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

in the

Elite Eight In the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, NCAA men's Division I basketball championship or the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, NCAA women's Division I basketball championship, the "Elite Eight" comprises the final eight t ...

reached their first

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

since

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

. In the

matchup against

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, Martin contributed seven points, seven

, and two assists to

's 77–73 upset win over the defending champions and the shattering of the Gamecocks' 42-game winning streak. With this win,

advanced to their first women's basketball

championship game A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world championships, and ...

in program history. Despite Martin's contribution of 13 points and six assists in the national championship game,

fell to

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, 102–85. The national championship game marked Martin's 100th career start for the Iowa Hawkeyes. As a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

senior, Martin averaged 7.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game with a career-high field goal percentage of 46.7% and a 41.4% three-point percentage. For the third consecutive year, she was selected as Iowa's Big Ten

Sportsmanship Sportsmanship is an aspiration or ethos that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, and with proper consideration for wikt:fairness, fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors. A "sore loser" r ...

Award honoree for women's basketball.

Graduate year (2023–24)

In February 2023, Martin announced her return for a sixth and final season with Iowa, taking advantage of both her redshirt year and the

's COVID-19 eligibility extension, and to complete her

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

. In a press conference during the 2023–24 season,

admitted to trying to persuade and convince Martin to return for a sixth year and went on to say, "I don't want to have to come back nd play at Iowaif she's not here." Martin continued her reign as team captain, her fourth consecutive year leading the Hawkeyes. On October 15, 2023, she played in the Crossover at Kinnick, a preseason charity

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...

against DePaul at the University of Iowa's

Kinnick Stadium Kinnick Stadium is a stadium located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the home stadium of the University of Iowa Iowa Hawkeyes football, Hawkeyes football team. Opened in 1929 as Iowa Stadium to replace Iowa Field, it currently holds u ...

. In the game Martin contributed 11 points, 8

, and 8 assists in Iowa's 94–72 win over DePaul. Crossover at Kinnick set a new record attendance for women's basketball with 55,646 total attendees and raised ~$250,000 for the

University of Iowa Children's Hospital A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

Kate Martin 1 - 2024 Big Ten tournament final

In the third game of the regular season, Martin surpassed 500 career

after grabbing eight rebounds against

Northern Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. On November 19, Martin posted a career-high 25 points (shooting 10-of-12 from the field) to help see Iowa to a 113–90 win over

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

. Martin recorded her third career double-double against

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

on November 26 (11 points and 10 rebounds), and in December 2023, she became the first player in Iowa women's basketball history with 900+ points, 500+ rebounds, 400+ assists, 120+ steals, and 60+ blocks. In the snowstorm matchup against

on January 13, she posted another double-double (10 points with 12 rebounds) and surpassed 1,000 career points. Martin collected her fifth and sixth career double-doubles in February: 15 points with 10 rebounds against

and 16 points with a career-high 16 boards versus

. During the regular season, Martin scored over 15 points in fifteen games, another career-best. Martin led the Hawkeyes to their third straight Big Ten tournament title. In the title game against

, Martin pulled her team out of an 8-point deficit in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter, sinking two three-pointers to force the game into overtime. She drained another pair of three-pointers, resulting in a 94–89 victory over Nebraska in overtime. During Big Ten tournament play, Martin became the third Hawkeye to garner 1,200+ points, 700+ rebounds, and 450+ assists. For the 2024 NCAA tournament, the Hawkeyes were named a No. 1 seed (Iowa's first since

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

) in the Albany 2 regional and were ranked as the tournament's 2nd overall seed. In the first round,

defeated Holy Cross 91–65 with Martin collecting a double-double of 15 points and 14

, despite taking a hard hit and smacking her head against the hardwood in the first half. In the second round and her final game on

, Martin contributed seven points and ten rebounds in a 64–54 defeat of

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, putting Iowa through to the Sweet Sixteen. Iowa continued to advance in the tournament and faced a rematch of their 2023 national championship game against

in the Elite Eight. Martin contributed 21 points and six rebounds in the 94–87 victory over the defending champs, punching Iowa's ticket to a second straight Final Four appearance and setting a program record of 33 wins in a single season. In the final minutes of the third quarter of Iowa's Final Four meeting with

, Martin was elbowed in the face by forward

Aaliyah Edwards Aaliyah Edwards (born July 9, 2002) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at UConn before being selected sixth overall by the ...

and left the court with a bloody nose. Martin returned in the fourth quarter unfazed, knocking down a turnaround jump shot and a driving

layup A layup in basketball is a two-point shot attempt made by leaping from below, "laying" the ball up near the basket, and using one hand to bounce it off the backboard and into the basket. The motion and one-handed reach distinguish it from a Jump ...

in the final minutes to pull Iowa into a two-possession lead. Iowa bested UConn in a 71–69 win with Martin posting 11 points, eight rebounds, and two steals to seal Iowa's spot in the national championship game for the second year in a row. In the title game, the Iowa Hawkeyes faced the undefeated and No. 1 overall seed

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fight ...

, a rematch of their 2023 tournament semifinal. Martin scored 16 points and collected five rebounds in her final game playing for Iowa, but the Hawkeyes ultimately suffered defeat to South Carolina in an 87–75 loss and were sent home as runners-up for the second consecutive year. In her graduate year, Martin averaged 13.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game with a career-high 50.7% field goal percentage. Martin started 139 consecutive games with Caitlin Clark (the longest streak in Division I in the last 25 years) and finished her career at Iowa with 1,299 points, 756 rebounds, and 473 assists in 163 games. In February 2024, Martin was named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale

USBWA Women's National Player of the Year The United States Basketball Writers Association National Player of the Year Award is an award that has been presented by the United States Basketball Writers Association since the 1987–88 season to the top women's college basketball player in NC ...

watchlist, ultimately losing the award to her teammate Caitlin Clark. In March 2024, Martin earned second-team All-Big Ten honors from the conference's coaches and media. She was named the Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree for Iowa women's basketball for the fourth consecutive year. She was also selected for the 2023–24 Big Ten Winter Academic All-Conference team. At the University of Iowa Department of Athletics' end-of-year celebration, known as the "Golden Herkys", Martin was voted by her fellow student-athletes as the "Women's Hawkeye of the Year".

Professional career

WNBA

Las Vegas Aces (2024)

After completing her final season of eligibility with Iowa, Martin declared for the 2024 WNBA draft. Martin attended the ceremony in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, in support of her former Iowa teammate,

, being selected as the first pick overall in the draft. From the audience, Martin was selected in the second round as the eighteenth overall pick of the draft by the

. On April 22, 2024, Martin was signed to the Aces' rookie scale contract. In April 2024, days after being drafted by the Aces and prior to the start of their training camp, Martin attended Kelsey Plum's second annual Dawg Class, a three-day camp to help top college guards transition from collegiate to professional basketball. On May 13, 2024, Martin was named to the 2024 Las Vegas Aces roster. This reunited her with her former Hawkeye teammate, Megan Gustafson for the first time since 2019. Martin made her WNBA regular season debut on May 18, 2024, in a 89–82 home win against the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Crypto.co ...

, registering 3 points, three assists, five rebounds, and a block in 26 minutes played. On June 9, 2024, Martin made her first career start for the Aces against the Los Angeles Sparks, and contributed 13 points, four rebounds, and three assists in the Aces' 96-92 loss, going 5-for-7 on field goal attempts and 3-for-3 on three-pointers.

Golden State Valkyries (2025–present)

On December 6, 2024, Martin was selected as the

' pick from the Las Vegas Aces' 2024 roster in the WNBA's

expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or sports franchising, franchises. This occurs mainly in Sports in North America, North American sports and closed leagues. O ...

. She recorded her WNBA career-high 21 points, 14 of which in the final quarter, in the team's narrow three-point loss to the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Confer ...

on June 25 2025.

Unrivaled

On October 28, 2024, it was announced that Martin would appear and play in the inaugural 2025 season of

Unrivaled Unrivaled may refer to: * Unrivaled (basketball) Unrivaled is a women's professional three-on-three basketball league in the United States. History The league was founded in 2023 by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, in part to allow WN ...

, the women's 3-on-3 basketball league founded by

and

Breanna Stewart Breanna Mackenzie Stewart ( ; Born, August 27, 1994), nicknamed "Stewie", is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is one of the most accomplished women in ...

. She plays for the Laces.

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

''Stats current as of game on July 5, 2025'' , - , align=left, , align=left,

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, 34 , , 2 , , 11.5 , , .307 , , .355 , , .917 , , 1.6 , , 0.9 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 0.6 , , 2.6 , - , align=left, , align=left, Golden State , 16 , , 1 , , 17.4 , , .346 , , .328 , , .760 , , 2.8 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 1.0 , , 7.1 , - class="sortbottom" , align=left, Career , align=left, 2 years, 2 teams , 50 , , 3 , , 13.4 , , .328 , , .341 , , .811 , , 2.0 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 0.7 , , 4.0

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 1 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , —, , —, , —, , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 1 year, 1 team , 1 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , —, , —, , —, , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0

College

, - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:center;",

, style="text-align:center;" colspan="12" , ''Did not play due to injury'' , - , style="text-align:center;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:center;",

, 24 , , 0 , , 8.1 , , .328 , , .182 , , .750 , , 1.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 0.7 , , 2.4 , - , style="text-align:center;",

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, style="text-align:center;",

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, 32 , , 32 , , 30.1 , , .453 , , .286 , , .740 , , 4.9 , , 3.5 , , 1.1 , , 0.7 , , 1.9 , , 7.2 , - , style="text-align:center;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:center;",

, 38 , , 38 , , 28.3 , , .467 , , .414 , , .833 , , 4.2 , , 3.6 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 1.7 , , 7.7 , - , style="text-align:center;", 2023–24 , style="text-align:center;",

, 39 , , 39 , , 28.8, , .507 , , .370 , , .864 , , 6.8 , , 2.3 , , 0.9 , , 0.5 , , 2.0 , , 13.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 163 , , 139 , , 26.3 , , .464 , , .355 , , .824 , , 4.6 , , 2.9 , , 0.9 , , 0.4, , 1.6 , , 8.0

Off the court

Personal life

Martin's father, Matt Martin, played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Western Illinois University Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College. Once West ...

. She has an older sister, Kennedy, who played basketball at Truman State, and an older brother, Trevor. Martin's maternal aunt, Julie Fitzpatrick, is married to

head coach, Jan Jensen. Many of Martin's aunts and uncles are former college athletes: Julie Fitzpatrick played basketball for

(scoring over 1700 career points), Tom Fitzpatrick played football for Drake, Matt Fitzpatrick played basketball for

St. Ambrose Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...

, and Mitch Martin played football for Western Illinois. From 2021 to 2024, Martin's maternal cousin, Laney Fitzpatrick, ran cross country and middle distance at the

and interned for Iowa women's basketball operations as an undergraduate. In May 2022, Martin completed her bachelor's degree in sports and recreation management at the

. With the completion of her undergraduate degree, Martin began working on a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree in sports and recreation management at Iowa. In interviews before she was drafted by the

, Martin expressed her aspirations to coach basketball at the collegiate level. While in college at Iowa, she received numerous endorsements for her coaching aspiration and potential from Iowa teammates,

and Monika Czinano, and was often called the "coach in the locker room". Martin also received high praise from

Lisa Bluder Lisa Marie Bluder (, born April 16, 1961) is the former head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball, Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball program. Formerly, she served as coach of St. Ambrose University and the Drake Bulldogs women's basketba ...

, her head coach while playing at Iowa: "She's going to be an unbelievable coach. She is a tremendous leader of young women. She is able to hold people accountable...and she doesn't back down. She has the respect of everybody in the room." In February 2024, Martin was nominated by her Iowa coaches and was later named to the

Women's Basketball Coaches Association The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels. The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches. The mission of the WBC ...

's 2024 "So You Want To Be A Coach" class. Martin grew up and went to high school with

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

, A.J. Epenesa. Martin's dad was Epenesa's football and track and field coach during his time at

Business interests

During her time at Iowa, Martin signed

name, image, and likeness In college athletics in the United States, a student-athlete who participates in a varsity sport on any and all levels is eligible to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Historically, the National Association of Intercollegiate At ...

(NIL) deals with Iowa and

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of five cities (originally Tri-Cities, later four, see #History, History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport, Iowa, Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, Bettendorf (the fifth to be included) in southeaster ...

businesses, including Estela's Fresh Mex, Mel Foster Co., RAYGUN, and Zimmerman Honda. Martin is represented by Excel Sports Management, after signing with the agency in May 2024. In September 2024, Martin announced her partnership with

American Eagle Outfitters American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. is an American clothing and accessories retailer headquartered at SouthSide Works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1977 by brothers Jerry and Mark Silverman as a subsidiary of Retail Ventures, Inc ...

on her social media platforms. In October 2024, Martin appeared in a

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

ad campaign for TOGETHXR and

Aflac Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company) is an American insurance company and is the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States. It was founded in 1955 and is based in Columbus, Georgia. In the U.S., it ...

alongside Aces' teammate, Sydney Colson. Martin partnered with Athleta and their "Power of She Collective" in January 2025, joining fellow female athletes

Simone Biles Simone Arianne Biles Owens ( Biles; born March 14, 1997) is an American Artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. Her 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals make her the most decorated gymnast in history. She is widely regarded as one ...

Katie Ledecky Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky ( ; born March 17, 1997) is an American competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer. She is the List of individual gold medalists in swimming at the Olympics and World Aquatics Championships (women)#Title leaders, most deco ...

, and Lexie Hull. In February 2025, Martin joined Samsung's Team Galaxy social campaign.

In popular culture

Before the start of the 2021-22 college basketball season, Iowa head coach,

, praised Martin's leadership as team captain and called her "The Glue" of their team. The nickname stuck with Iowa fans, and Bluder also continued to refer to Martin as "The Glue" throughout her collegiate career. In a 2022 post-game press conference Bluder said of Martin, "Kate's always been the glue—and people overlook Kate. She holds this team together. She's our captain, she's our leader, she's somebody we look to." Martin appeared in the closing credits on the April 13, 2024 episode of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'', alongside her Iowa teammates,

, Gabbie Marshall, and Jada Gyamfi, after Clark made a surprise appearance on ''

Weekend Update ''Weekend Update'' is a ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch and satirical news program that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest-running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast and been featu ...

''. After the Aces' May 31, 2024 game against the

Atlanta Dream The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Dream compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded for the ...

, Martin was asked and suggested that her fans be called "The Martinis". The following month, RAYGUN, an Iowa-based T-shirt company, and Martin released a "Martini" fan club T-shirt.

Filmography

Notes

References

External links

Iowa Hawkeyes bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Kate 2000 births Living people 21st-century American sportswomen American lesbian sportswomen American women's basketball players Basketball players from Illinois Golden State Valkyries draft picks Golden State Valkyries players Guards (basketball) Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball players Las Vegas Aces draft picks Las Vegas Aces players Sportspeople from Edwardsville, Illinois Unrivaled basketball players