JUST NOW: Kate Martin Shares the Real Story of Her “Experience” with Caitlin Clark in Iowa
Even though she hasn’t played a significant amount of minutes for the Las Vegas Aces this season, rookie guard Kate Martin has still had to learn how to negotiate the unsettling heights of the WNBA.
Caitlin Clark, Martin’s former colleague at Iowa, has also experienced an extraordinarily quick ascent since turning pro, but her trajectory is quite different from Martin’s.
A reporter questioned Martin on Tuesday, prior to the Aces’ Game 2 semifinal matchup with the New York Liberty, on her move to the WNBA and how her time spent with Clark in Iowa honed her ability to tune out background noise.
“We were part of a lot of those most viewed games, so our attention and following at Iowa were at a pinnacle the last couple of years,” Martin remarked. Therefore, I believe that experience alone—after all, we had renowned individuals seated courtside.
“Every time I see Steph Curry, Lebron James, or anybody else sitting courtside, I am still in awe.” That’s like, really awesome. However, I’m happy that I had the opportunity to do it throughout my time in college. because the changeover has gone smoothly.
There was a lot of attention on Clark even before she came to the WNBA. In fact, the former Hawkeyes superstar is widely considered one of the most popular and most established college players of all time.
The fact that she set the all-time NCAA scoring record during her time in Iowa is a clear testament to this fact.
For her, Martin’s time in Iowa with Clark was everything but a free pass. Martin contributed significantly to the Hawkeyes as well, earning a position on the All-Big Ten squad in her final year of play.
Martin continued by stating that her preparation for life in the WNBA was greatly aided by the extraordinary heights she and Clark achieved in Iowa.
“I think just knowing the attention that we got in Iowa and how to handle that, and we’ve talked through that,” she stated. “It’s a learning curve and an experience. In other words, don’t just go up to the WNBA and get that immediately. It has undoubtedly helped to have experience dealing with that.”
Martin was a healthy DNP (did not play) again on Tuesday as the Aces suffered an 88-84 loss against the Liberty in Game 2 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The two-time defending champs are now down 2-0 in this best-of-five series, and they will need to win the remaining three games of this semifinal clash if they want to progress to the WNBA Finals.
