In a recent recording of the “Bird’s Eye View podcast with Sue Bird,” former Iowa women’s basketball guard Kate Martin spoke on her experience playing alongside Caitlin Clark when the two current WNBA stars were teammates on the Hawkeyes from 2020-24.
Martin, who spent five years at Iowa, thanks to the extra year of eligibility granted due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, finished her tenure averaging 8.0 points per game on 46.4% from the floor, including 35.5% from 3-point territory, and 82.4% from the charity stripe through 139 starts in 163 games. Martin also averaged 4.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.1 blocks per contest throughout her career in Iowa City.
Most notably, Martin’s best offensive season at Iowa was during the 2023-24 campaign when she averaged 13.1 points per game on 50.7% from the floor, including 37.0% from beyond the arc, and 86.4% from the free-throw line, en route to the Hawkeyes’ second consecutive appearance in the National Championship game.
When Bird asked what her first impression of Clark was when the Hawkeyes recruited the eventual program-altering guard, Martin explained that she did not know much about Clark’s skillset outside of film, but was amazed by her ability to live up to the hype.
“Yeah, she had come on a couple of visits, and she was like a big name in Iowa. So I had heard about her. I wasn’t from Iowa, so I didn’t know as much, and that, like, All-Iowa Attack AAU program is, like, so big, and I’d never heard of it,” Martin explained. “And so I had heard about this Caitlin Clark, and I was, like, watching videos of her just have like 40 points, averaging a million in high school, and I was like, ‘oh, this girl thinks she’s going to come here and rule the world.’ And there she did, came in right away and ruled the world, and I was like, all right, here we go.”
Martin continued by explaining that she was in awe of Clark’s ability to become an immediate game-changer on the court for the team during her freshman year and eventually alter the trajectory of the program moving forward.
“I just remember you have that summer before, and she was doing things that I had never seen anybody do before. And as a freshman, to come in and have that kind of confidence, like, not everybody has that. I was like, I haven’t really seen anything like this. And so we knew she was going to be outstanding. And then, yeah, at the beginning of the year, we had some big wins, and there were highs and lows that year for sure. But, you know, it took us a little bit to figure it out. But, yeah, it obviously turned out better than I could have ever expected or thought.”
With the two now in their second WNBA season, Hawkeyes fans can proudly watch both stars shine on their respective teams as Clark headlines the Indiana Fever and Martin provides a sharp-shooting offensive jolt off the bench for the Golden State Valkyries.
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