Kate Martin Leads By Example

Iowa Super Senior Fills in Wherever the Hawkeyes Need Her

Iowa's Kate Martin warms up before an NCAA Tournament game against Georgia on March 19, 2023 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. (Rob Howe/HawkeyeNation.com)

The scout team needed someone on defense.

It was Kate Martin’s turn to take a break during the Iowa women’s basketball team’s Thursday practice, but someone needed to step in. So Martin tossed aside her yellow practice jersey and got back on the floor.

It’s what she does.

Martin, in her five previous seasons with the Hawkeyes, has done whatever has been asked of her.

In her final season — she promises that yes, there is no more eligibility remaining — Martin has vowed to stay in that same role.

“It’s definitely motivation,” Martin said. “I don’t have any more eligibility, guys. This is it. I’m trying to make it the best season ever.”

That eligibility clock ticks loudest when it is winding down, and Martin has kept setting the hands back. She could have walked away after last season, when she was a starter on Iowa’s national runner-up team, but if the time is available, why give it up?

That’s why, with a year of eligibility left granted by the NCAA during the COVID-19 pandemic season of 2020-21, Martin chose to come back.

The goal, she said, is to embrace every moment.

“Like, ‘This is my last fifth week of summer Thursday practice,’” Martin said. “Every day, coming in with that mentality, so you might as well go as hard as you can.”

Martin took a redshirt season her first year, and played just 202 minutes as a freshman. Since then, she has played in 100 games, and started them all.

She has been described as “the glue” of the team by coach Lisa Bluder, and the term has caught on within the fan base.

Martin is coming off her best season, when she averaged a career-high 7.7 points along with 4.2 rebounds.

Martin was at her best last season in some of Iowa’s biggest games:

— She had 20 points in a loss to Connecticut in November.

— She had 19 points in Iowa’s 86-85 win over Big Ten regular-season champion Indiana in the final regular-season game.

— She had 16 points in Iowa’s NCAA regional semifinal win over Colorado.

— She scored 13 in the national championship game loss to LSU.

Still, Martin knows time is running out. She joked a couple of times during her interview session on Thursday about being “old.”

“Simple answer, it does feel that way,” Martin said. “But it also helps. I feel like I have the offense down. I have a few tricks up my sleeve at this point. It’s really nice that I can help the younger players with the plays — offense, defense, whatever it may be, since this is my sixth year through the system. So I’m grateful for that.”

Martin is one of those rare college athletes who gets to experience two foreign trips in their career. She was with the Hawkeyes in 2019 when they went to Spain. Now, she’ll be on the trip to Italy and Croatia that starts next week.

“This is my second foreign tour I’ve been on since I’m so dang old,” she said, laughing. “I’m lucky to have another opportunity to go overseas.”