Basketball may be one of Kate\u2019s first loves, but family is her strongest. On her Instagram account<\/a>, which has over 450,000 followers, \u201cCarson\u2019s Aunt\u201d is her only identifier.<\/p>\n Family and basketball are her constants, the two things that have been there for her from the start. She spent the night prior to our conversation watching UConn<\/a> defeat USC in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA tournament with her dad, a former college football player who coached rec basketball for Kate and her brother, Trevor. <\/p>\n Kate, a past starter for Iowa who played in back-to-back national championship games in 2023 and 2024, hasn\u2019t had much downtime to contemplate the whirlwind of it all\u2014but watching the next generation of women\u2019s basketball compete on the same stage she was on almost exactly one year ago reminded her just how far she\u2019s come.<\/p>\n Kate attended the 2024 WNBA Draft to support her teammate\u2014and ended up being drafted herself.<\/p>\n At that time, Kate was preparing to graduate with a master\u2019s degree in sports management and putting out feelers for coaching jobs. While much of the March Madness chatter was focused on a certain Iowa teammate very obviously destined for the WNBA, Kate only had hope\u2014not a guarantee\u2014that she could go pro. With just 12 teams and 144 roster spots, it\u2019s known as one of the toughest leagues to make, with one of the most stacked draft classes in years in 2024.<\/p>\n For Kate to be literally plucked out of the audience at the 2024 WNBA Draft<\/a>, chosen 18th overall by the defending champion Las Vegas Aces, was as close to a basketball fairy tale as you can imagine. But this wasn\u2019t luck or magic; it was earned\u2014and not always on national TV or on a stat sheet, but in moments of true teamwork and leadership in the locker room, on the bench, back home in Illinois, and right now, when she nonchalantly admits that she\u2019s never stopped grinding behind the scenes.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s moments here and there where I\u2019m like, \u2018Wow, I\u2019ve done some really awesome things and I\u2019ve been a part of some really cool moments,\u2019\u200a\u201d she says. \u201cBut you kind of just move on and do the next thing.\u201d <\/p>\n Kate\u2019s parents, Matt and Jill, are both teachers, and hers was never one of those pushy youth sports families willing to shell out for private trainers and expensive lessons. They wanted their kids to be kids. But even at 5 years old, Kate, now 24, already had a goal of being a Hawkeye. <\/p>\n Iowa\u2019s associate basketball coach at the time, Jan Jensen (now the head coach), is married to Kate\u2019s aunt, and crashing with them to attend Iowa basketball camps was a much-loved summer activity. At home, she slept with an Iowa basketball poster on the ceiling above her bed so it would be the first thing she saw when she woke up every morning.<\/p>\n Her dad knew that if she wanted to be a better athlete, she didn\u2019t need the pressure of elite youth leagues\u2014she just needed to learn how to get scrappy against stronger, faster competition. \u201cBeing educators and coaches in our family, she\u2019s been surrounded by it\u2014a certain mindset,\u201d Matt has said. \u201cNo excuses.\u201d He coached her on her brother\u2019s fourth-grade basketball team when she was just a second grader, and she even played quarterback on an all-boys tackle football team. <\/p>\n A passionate competitor, Kate attacked every sport with fire.<\/p>\n By the time she started at Edwardsville High School, she\u2019d worked hard enough that a college scholarship felt within reach. To help her avoid basketball burnout, her parents gave her an ultimatum: Pick up another sport in the offseason or get a part-time job. (She chose a sport\u2014volleyball, which she loved\u2014instead of the job.)<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t have to hire the best trainers or have the best basketball or have the best clothes and look a certain way. Just be you, and go have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just really thankful that I have that guidance in my life and I have parents who have really good heads on their shoulders to teach me that it\u2019s okay to do other things,\u201d she says. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to hire the best trainers or have the best basketball or have the best clothes and look a certain way. Just be you, and go have fun.\u201d <\/p>\n After Kate averaged 13 points per game and competed in the Class 4A state championship, five colleges called\u2014including her dream school, Iowa. On her official visit, Matt has said, he told the Hawkeyes coaches about the real Kate. \u201cI don\u2019t know how many minutes Kate will ever play for you. I don\u2019t know how many points or rebounds she\u2019ll ever get,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019ll tell you what you\u2019re going to get. When you have recruits coming on campus, you want them around Kate. When you have tough times in the locker room, you want Kate around. When you go to the elementary schools and read books, you want Kate going. That\u2019s who you\u2019re getting as a person.\u201d She announced her verbal commitment in May 2017. <\/p>\n Everything she\u2019d envisioned in her childhood bedroom was coming true. Then, two days before her first practice as a freshman, she tore her ACL before an all-star game.<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt like my dreams were all crumbling,\u201d she says. \u201cI was so close to living out my dream, and then I just felt like I was being set back\u2014and I was. But now I obviously know it was for a great reason.\u201d<\/p>\n Redshirted on the bench at Iowa, Kate was a sponge. She observed her idols in the senior class\u2014Megan Gustafson, Tania Davis, Hannah Stewart\u2014and noticed the absence of the cutthroat jealousy and animosity that could come with high school basketball squads, the parts of sport her sister taught her, by example, to avoid. She watched Jensen and head coach Lisa Bluder at work and picked up on what it took to lead a successful team.<\/p>\n \u201cI realized everybody had one goal, and that was to win,\u201d Kate says. \u201cNobody cared who scored, nobody cared how we won\u2014let\u2019s just do it, and let\u2019s do it together.\u201d She had a front-row seat not only to Iowa\u2019s first Elite Eight appearance since 1993, but also to everything it took to get there. \u201cI was like, \u2018Wow, how are we ever going to top this?\u2019\u200a\u201d<\/p>\n Kate became the Hawkeyes\u2019 ultimate cheerleader, earning their respect by staying late in the gym with them and even carrying their bags if needed. She learned when to tap into her competitive spirit and when to tone it down. \u201cI couldn\u2019t participate by battling my booty off at practice. That\u2019s typically how you can be a good teammate,\u201d she says. \u201cInstead, I had to learn other ways of just being their number one fan, their biggest supporter. Without that\u2014without tearing my ACL\u2014I don\u2019t know if I would\u2019ve fully grasped that.\u201d<\/p>\n Getty Images. Matt Ryan, WH Illustration.<\/p>\n The next season, Kate started to notice teammates coming to her for advice. She worked hard to form personal relationships with every player and learn their various sources of motivation, from tough love to words of affirmation. \u201cBeing a good leader comes with a lot of trust,\u201d she says. \u201cI didn\u2019t want people to think I could just hold you accountable on the court if I don\u2019t talk to you off the court. That\u2019s not really how it works.\u201d <\/p>\n Kate played in only 24 games that year and averaged less than three points. But by the start of her redshirt sophomore season, she\u2019d been named team captain, much to the shock of anyone outside of the Hawkeyes locker room. She began to be known as \u201cThe Glue,\u201d a nickname she\u2019s still not entirely sure she deserves. After all, she\u2019s human too.<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt like people were coining me as this person who was always leading, always being a great teammate. I had my lapses\u2014yes, I did. Was I selfish? Many times. So it was a lot of pressure, actually,\u201d she says. \u201cPeople are very sweet to call me that. It\u2019s coming from a good-hearted place. And sometimes other people see you in a different light than you see yourself. So it makes me happy that people saw me as \u2018The Glue,\u2019 or whatever, but I don\u2019t know\u2014I didn\u2019t always feel like \u2018The Glue.\u2019 I thought I had other teammates who were my glue.\u201d That\u2019s the Iowa way, Kate says. Everyone has each other\u2019s back.<\/p>\n Still, teammates like her close friend Caitlin Clark<\/a> double down on that attribution whenever asked. \u201cShe\u2019s probably the best leader I\u2019ve ever been around in my entire life,\u201d Clark said in 2023, ahead of their final season at Iowa. \u201cShe is somebody you want on your team, no matter what sport it is, male or female.\u201d<\/p>\n Kate keeps the energy flowing in the Hawkeyes\u2019 huddle, with teammate Caitlin Clark and coaches Jan Jensen and Lisa Bluder.<\/p>\n \u201cShe just cares so much [that] if Kate leaves practice for a minute or two to go to the bathroom, you can tell the mood changes,\u201d Jensen has said. \u201cIt gets so much more quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n After Iowa reached the national championship in 2023, losing to LSU<\/a>, legend has it that Caitlin convinced Kate to stay for her sixth year of eligibility and go for it one more time. But Kate says she was enticed by the opportunity to finish her master\u2019s degree for free and bank extra cash via name, image, and likeness deals before entering the real world. <\/p>\n She was worried people would think it was embarrassing to stay in college for six years, but \u201cit was the smartest business decision for myself,\u201d she says. \u201cIt felt so selfish, because there were younger players in my position who I felt deserved to step up into my role and take over.\u201d But Bluder and the Iowa staff \u201cbuilt a culture where you didn\u2019t want to leave. I didn\u2019t want to leave. I loved it there. I felt loved. Everyone mattered.\u201d<\/p>\n She was loved. Her teammates were nothing but excited to have \u201cThe Glue\u201d sticking with them for one last ride. \u201cWe kind of knew if we all stayed together, great things could happen,\u201d Kate says. They made it to the national championship again. And while they lost to South Carolina, the back-to-back appearances are still among Kate\u2019s proudest accomplishments. She has no regrets about staying. She played some of her most dominant basketball that season, with career highs in average points, rebounds, and field goals per game\u2014a testament to the leader she\u2019d become on the court too.<\/p>\n In April 2024, her time at Iowa was winding down, and Kate had more than a month left in her grad school capstone. She was still training, thinking that after graduation she might be able to get a WNBA training camp contract. She didn\u2019t have an agent, so she asked her Iowa coaches to poke around and see whether she was on the draft board for any WNBA teams. Her name had been mentioned a few times, maybe\u2014possibly as a late-third-round pick, but no one was really sure. <\/p>\n Kate put her energy toward making connections for coaching jobs instead.<\/p>\n The 2024 WNBA Draft rolled around, and Caitlin, who was projected to be the top pick, invited Kate and their teammates Jada Gyamfi and Gabbie Marshall to join her in New York City for the celebratory weekend. They met Melissa McCarthy<\/a> in the airport, explored the city, attended Caitlin\u2019s guest appearance on Saturday Night Live<\/a>, and sang \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d to musical guest Chris Stapleton. \u201cGabbie, Jada, and I just wanted to have so much fun,\u201d Kate says. \u201cIt was seriously amazing.\u201d They all got dressed up for the draft, because that\u2019s what you do.<\/p>\n Kate and friends were originally to be seated in the mezzanine at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, but ESPN reporter Holly Rowe<\/a> suggested they be moved to the floor. \u201c\u200a\u2018I told them they need to bring you down, because your name is getting called tonight,\u2019\u200a\u201d Kate recalls Rowe telling her at the draft. \u201c\u2018You need to be ready. You\u2019re going to walk across that stage.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Kate started to feel very overwhelmed. She didn\u2019t know if Rowe was just hyping her up or if she had heard something. If it did happen, she didn\u2019t even want to go up on the stage, which Caitlin\u2019s agent had suggested she do. Kate wasn\u2019t one of the formally invited players and didn\u2019t want a \u201cpity party\u201d if she were picked last. In her head, she was living the SpongeBob SquarePants meme where Mr. Krabs reacts in stunned confusion while his world spins around him.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s a player who loves to do the dirty work that never shows up on the stat sheet. And that\u2019s Kate; she never wants any credit or the shine. It\u2019s always team first.\u201d \u2014Natalie Nakase<\/p>\n Caitlin was chosen number one overall. Her crew\u2014Kate, Jada, Gabbie, and Caitlin\u2019s boyfriend, Connor McCaffery\u2014was situated in the middle of a row. But when the second round of the draft began, a woman working the event approached Kate with intensity and told her she needed to move to an end seat. Jada\u2019s and Gabbie\u2019s jaws dropped, eyes filling with tears. A camera was suddenly stationed in front of them. <\/p>\n Kate texted her family: \u201cHey guys, I think I\u2019m about to get drafted.\u201d As a million texts back suddenly started rolling in, she was instructed to relinquish her phone. She promptly began freaking out. And with the 18th pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, the Las Vegas Aces selected Kate Martin, University of Iowa.<\/p>\n \u201cI really didn\u2019t know I was going to get drafted. I was hoping. I came in with high hopes. I had heard rumors, but who knows?\u201d she says. She did choose to walk across the stage, and she\u2019s ultimately proud of the now-viral moment. \u201cI don\u2019t really care where I was sitting. I\u2019m just really grateful that I had the opportunity to do that and I get to show my kids and tell my kids that one day. I will have that memory forever.\u201d<\/p>\n In Las Vegas, the Aces had had their eye on Kate for quite some time. \u201cI watched her play in Iowa and I couldn\u2019t keep my eyes off of her, because she plays with so much effort and passion,\u201d Natalie Nakase, then first assistant coach for the back-to-back WNBA champions, tells WH in an email. She knew she wanted to coach Kate someday. \u201cShe\u2019s a player who loves to do the dirty work that never shows up on the stat sheet. And that\u2019s Kate; she never wants any credit or the shine. It\u2019s always team first.\u201d<\/p>\n Getty Images. Courtesy of Golden State Valkyries. Matt Ryan, WH Illustration.<\/p>\n Kate was nervous for her shot at the pros, especially heading to training camp immediately after a grueling seven-month college season. \u201cYou\u2019re not playing up to how you could play\u201d because of the nerves, she says. \u201cYou\u2019re just scared. There\u2019s so much pressure. There\u2019s just a lot going on.\u201d<\/p>\n At the same time, starting her career on the Aces\u2014stacked with established vets like A\u2019ja Wilson<\/a>, Chelsea Gray<\/a>, and Jackie Young<\/a>\u2014felt like a perfect fit. Kate was used to playing on a team with big stars and high expectations. \u201cThe Aces didn\u2019t need anybody to be a new star player. They needed somebody to come in and be a role player, and I have learned how to perfect that,\u201d she says. \u201cI feel really grateful for every star, stud player I\u2019ve ever played with, because it got me prepared for that role.\u201d<\/p>\n Kate thrives when she\u2019s doing whatever is asked of her behind the scenes. She also loves to score and to defend. She had moments when she legitimately couldn\u2019t believe legends like A\u2019ja and Jackie were her teammates, and moments when she knew without a doubt she was making a difference as her own unique player.<\/p>\n Two things can be true, she reasons. \u201cYou can question yourself at times, being like, \u2018Am I really good enough for this?\u2019\u200a\u201d she says. \u201cAnd yet, at the same time, I would get in the games and I\u2019d be like, \u2018Oh, heck yeah, I belong. I know what I\u2019ve been working towards my entire life.\u2019\u200a\u201d On harder days, Kate would rewatch the Aces\u2019 May 18, 2024, game against the Los Angeles Sparks\u2014her first pro game, when she put up five rebounds and a killer block\u2014to remind herself exactly who she is. \u201cHey, remember: You did this in a WNBA game, mind you,\u201d she\u2019d tell herself.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw Kate\u2019s mindset grow tremendously during her first year. It\u2019s never easy for a college player who played heavy minutes to then transition to the pros and play short stints,\u201d says Nakase, who would spend extra time with Kate watching film or shooting after practice. \u201cKate embraced it and showed up every day to do whatever it took to make her teammates better.\u201d<\/p>\n In Vegas, Kate picked up a new nickname from Aces head coach Becky Hammon: \u201cMoney.\u201d She has a knack for hitting critical shots on the court, but she also comes in clutch off it. \u201cI think that\u2019s going to stick,\u201d former Aces teammate Kelsey Plum<\/a> said last year. \u201cAnd when I say \u2018Money,\u2019 it\u2019s not just about scoring. She\u2019s just in the right place at the right time.\u201d At the end of Kate\u2019s rookie year, Nakase was hired as head coach of the WNBA\u2019s new expansion team, the Golden State Valkyries. Looking to add some glue to their new roster, the Valkyries selected Kate in the December 6 expansion draft<\/a>. It was a highly intentional choice\u2014someone you can build a brand-new team around\u2014as Nakase views Kate as \u201cthat cornerstone player who embodies everything we value.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe brings this infectious energy and accountability that elevates everyone around her,\u201d Nakase says. \u201cI know exactly who Kate is, and I know exactly what Kate will bring every day. I love players who don\u2019t bring surprises; they bring consistency.\u201d<\/p>\n Kate participates in a community mural painting event in Oakland, California, with the Valkyries.<\/p>\n Joshua Leung<\/p>\n Kate, as always, is ready to tap into whatever the Valkyries need. \u201cI think when you have those qualities, they\u2019re just kind of always in you,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m always going to be a dependable, reliable teammate and do what I need to do to help us win. If that\u2019s to step up into a leadership role, obviously I will do that. If it\u2019s to delegate or assist anybody in any sort of leadership way that I need to, then I\u2019ll do that. I just want to win and I want to have fun and I want to be there for my teammates. And that\u2019s about it.\u201d <\/p>\n Okay, and she has also hired a trainer\u2014for the first time in her career.<\/p>\n While the inaugural era of Valkyries basketball is still defining itself, Kate\u2019s game plan suspiciously sounds a lot like the Iowa way. \u201cWe want to set a culture where everyone matters and where people feel safe and people want to thrive in that environment,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n In a particularly serendipitous moment at the 2025 WNBA Draft<\/a>, another player was drafted from the audience. Kaitlyn Chen, a UConn point guard whose team had just won the national championship a week prior, was in attendance to support her teammate Paige Bueckers<\/a>, the number one pick. Kaitlyn was drafted 30th overall, her UConn teammates erupting into cheers, the feel-good story of the night. <\/p>\n \u201cCongrats @kaitlyn.chen,\u201d Kate posted on Instagram Stories. \u201cGetting drafted from the crowd is a classic!!!\u201d They entered training camp together as Valkyries.<\/p>\n Kate is always there for those around her, yes, but she also prioritizes caring for herself. She recharges her batteries by spending time outside, going for a walk or a hike, or to the beach now that she\u2019s living in the San Francisco Bay area. She loves to watch TV and read mystery thrillers or romance novels. She relies on conversations with her siblings and her parents\u2014\u201cmy people who have been with me since day one\u201d\u2014when she needs a reset.<\/p>\n Kate is intentionally private when it comes to her personal life, but she also knows that she has a following on social media\u2014and that her human side, the side of her that has nothing to do with basketball, is part of what\u2019s bringing new fans to the WNBA. <\/p>\n \u201cI just want to win and I want to have fun and I want to be there for my teammates. And that\u2019s about it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s definitely a delicate balance,\u201d she says. \u201cI want people to know what matters to me and what I care about, so I post about my family or my girlfriend or whatever, because that matters to me. But at the same time, I don\u2019t want you to know too much, because they\u2019re sacred to me, and I want to protect them.\u201d<\/p>\n She finds it easier to talk about basketball, \u201cbecause it\u2019s just what I\u2019m wired to do,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s my job.\u201d But she also loves to talk about the values her parents instilled in her and the ways her siblings inspire her\u2014all things she\u2019s put into practice throughout her career, things that show in the way she plays with joy and a competitive spirit.<\/p>\n \u201cI just hope people see me as somebody who cares about others,\u201d Kate says. \u201cI know that I play basketball and it\u2019s a super cool thing, but I know there are a lot bigger things than just basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n Like right now. It\u2019s time to end the Zoom call\u2014she can hear that her oldest nephew is in the bathtub, and she\u2019s excited to go play with him. A few days from now, she\u2019ll change her Instagram bio to \u201cAunt of Two!\u201d It\u2019s her other profession, she says, \u201cand it\u2019s the best profession on earth.\u201d<\/p>\n Amanda Lucci is the director of special projects at Women\u2019s Health, where she works on multi-platform brand initiatives and social media strategy. She also leads the sports and athletes vertical, traveling to cover the Paris Olympics, Women\u2019s World Cup, WNBA Finals, and NCAA Final Four for WH. She has nearly 15 years of experience writing, editing, and managing social media for national and international publications and is also a NASM-certified personal trainer. A proud native of Pittsburgh, PA, she is a graduate of Ohio University\u2019s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. Follow her on Instagram @alucci. \u00a0<\/p>\n![\"new](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/whm050125-an052025-katemartin-007-68378181981fb.jpg\" "\\"2024")
Sarah Stier\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"kate](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/wh-katemartin-team-6837822c0075d.jpg\" "\\"kate")
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G Fiume\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"kate](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/wh-katemartin-play-68378331490a2.jpg\" "\\"kate")
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Joshua Leung<\/p>\n![\"kate](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/whm050125-an052025-katemartin-005-683783e0b165e.jpg\" "\\"kate")
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