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Caitlin Clark Was So Relatable Greeting Former Teammate Kate Martin Before Fever-Aces

Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin played together for four years at Iowa.

Josh Wilson

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As Caitlin Clark makes her transition to the professional side of basketball, her familiar teammates from her four years at Iowa are no more. Clark, who was drafted first overall by the Indiana Fever this year, now will face some of her former teammates for the first time as opponents.

One of those players is Kate Martin, who now plays for the Las Vegas Aces. With the Fever set to take the Aces on on Saturday, the two reunited pregame and had an incredibly wholesome reunion on the court during pregame warmups.

Take a look at the video of their sweet interaction:

Before the game, Clark spent some time speaking about Martin to the press:

Here's what Clark said about Martin in that press scrum, after getting in a friendly jab at her for not showing up to the joint press conference:

"[She was] somebody that was with me all four years at Iowa, and I was the person that kinda begged her to come back for her sixth year. ... We've talked every single day, I call her if not texted her every single day. I'm just really happy for her and everything coach [Becky] Hammon says about her is just so true, and every single person that played at Iowa and was around our program knows that to be true. She's the ultimate teammate, she's the ultimate person, ultimate leader, she's going to do whatever she can for her team, just super unselfish person, and just honestly she's just a winner. ... She was my teammate but also one of my best friends. You know, I've been lucky."

The two spent some time on the court chatting before their matchup in Vegas:

Together, Martin and Clark combined for over 5,000 points, 1,500 rebounds, and 1,500 assists in the four years they overlapped as Hawkeyes.

The Aces host the Fever at 9 p.m. ET on Saturday.

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Josh Wilson
JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.

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