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WNBA star Kate Martin has cut a niche for herself with her gritty style of play for the Golden State Valkyries. Martin was picked No. 18 overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft after four bountiful years captaining the Iowa Hawkeyes alongside the program legend, Caitlin Clark<\/a>.<\/p>\n After Martin left Iowa for the WNBA, her longtime coach, Lisa Bluder, also retired, and her longtime assistant, Jan Jensen, took over the reins of the program. Jensen has been pictured at several WNBA arenas supporting Martin, begging the question: Are they related?<\/p>\n What did Jan Jensen Say About Her Relationship With Kate Martin?<\/p>\n Jensen is married to Julie Fitzpatrick, who is the biological aunt of Martin, making the two basketball figures related by marriage. <\/p>\n Kate Martin: The Glue, and the American Dream<\/a><\/p>\n Jan Jensen says everything that made Martin an elite role player is what’s helping her succeed in the pros<\/p>\n “To see her become a star on the WNBA level, although she was a role player, I loved everything about that story…” February 19, 2025<\/a>“>During a February interview with \u201cHawkeyes Headquarters,\u201d\u00a0the Iowa coach spoke about her relationship with the Valkyries star.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s (Kate Martin) my spouse\u2019s biological niece,\u201d Jensen said. \u201cWhen she was five, she\u2019d stay with us. But she had a dream, she put her\u00a0poster above her bed in her room, looked up at the Hawkeyes poster.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite not playing under Jensen as head coach, Martin was at Iowa for a period during her aunt\u2019s 20-year tenure as associate head coach\u00a0at the program under Bluder.<\/p>\n Jensen on Kate Martin\u2019s Iowa Career<\/p>\n Martin was a three-star recruit according to ESPN, and she received plenty of DI offers, including from programs like DePaul, Illinois, and Wisconsin. When the Hawkeyes offered her, she verbally committed to them during her junior year in 2017. Martin had a stellar college basketball career, leading Iowa to three consecutive Big Ten titles while reaching the national championship game twice.<\/p>\n Kate Martin: The Glue, and the American Dream<\/a><\/p>\n Jan Jensen says everything that made Martin an elite role player is what’s helping her succeed in the pros<\/p>\n “To see her become a star on the WNBA level, although she was a role player, I loved everything about that story…” pic.twitter.com\/jWb890M1dh<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Blake Hornstein (@BlakeHornTV) February 19, 2025<\/a>“>During an interview with Blake Hornstein in February, Jensen lavished praise<\/a> on Martin\u2019s stellar Iowa career.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Kate was one of those players. The way she played and her humility, but also her grit, and that little glisten in her eye, that confidence, it just resonated. To see her become a star on the WNBA level, although she was a role player, I loved everything about that story,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause that\u2019s life. A lot of times, if you keep plugging away, and, you know, maybe you\u2019re not always the one with the corner office, right? But you\u2019re the one that makes that organization work, and then if given the chance Kate is gonna kill you, right? I mean, when we played UConn last year, her little Dirk moves with the fade, her defense, and you know, in the pros when she got some minutes early, people were really connecting with her,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Martin finished her Hawkeyes career with 1,299 points, 473 assists, and 756 rebounds, while starting 139 consecutive games alongside Caitlin Clark, the longest such streak in Division I history in 25 years.<\/p>\n