Kate Martin makes the Las Vegas Aces roster
It’s official. Former Hawkeye Kate Martin has made the final roster for the Las Vegas Aces. The organization announced their 12-player roster on Monday ahead of the team’s season opener against the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday night.
“Kate Martin is awesome. Kate picks up things so quickly, she’s an amazing sponge,” said Kelsey Plum in a recent zoom interview. “I think Becky nicknamed her Kate ‘Money’ Martin. I think that’s gonna stick.”
Drafted 18th overall by the Aces back on April 15th, Martin had her work cut out for her, attempting to make the roster of the back-to-back WNBA champs. On top of that, for rookies, making a final roster is an uphill battle unless you are one of the top selections in the draft. Over the last three years, just 17 of 72 (23.6%) players drafted in the second or third round ended up making the opening day roster. Despite the short odds, it is pretty unsurprising to see Kate Martin defy those odds and make the Aces roster.
“When I say ‘money,’ it’s not just about scoring and stuff, she’s just in the right place at the right time. She just makes people better,” said Plum. “That’s what Becky values, that’s what our coaching staff values and that’s why she’s gonna be a great asset to our team.”
Through the majority of her six-year career with the Hawkeyes, Kate was known as a do-it-all player. A little bit of scoring, some rebounds, some assists, some hustle plays and a whole lot of leadership. That made her one of the most likable players amongst Hawk fans. This past season as a senior, Martin had a breakout year as a scorer, averaging career-highs for points (13.1) and rebounds (6.8) per game. She scored in double figures in 30 of 39 games, including a career-high 25 points against Drake.
“I’m just here being myself. I don’t need to be anybody else. I don’t need to be the star player, you see the talent that the Aces have, that my role would just be a role-player,” said Martin via zoom on Aces media day. “If I fortunately would make the final roster, I’ve been in that position before, I know how to be a role-player. I know how to support stars. I’ve done that for quite a few years, so my intention is to come in and give 100% effort every single day, never take a rep off and just work really hard to be a good teammate.”
The Aces faced off against the Puerto Rico National Team at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC for the team’s lone preseason game this past Saturday. Las Vegas rolled to a 102-50 victory, while Kate Martin finished with five points and two assists over ten minutes on the floor, including an assist to former Iowa teammate Megan Gustafson. Gustafson finished the game with 17 points and six rebounds. The other rookie on the roster, former Syracuse guard Dyaisha Fair, also put up five points and two assists. Head Coach Becky Hammon spoke about them after the game.
“It was actually nice to see them go against somebody other than our players because you can see really how much upside there is to both of them,” said Hammon. “Both of them are there for specific reasons. … Dyaisha is completely different from Kate. But what we saw in each of them and the skillset they possess, we value both of those.”
The Las Vegas Aces will first come to the midwest on May 29th to face the Minnesota Lynx at the Target Center. Meanwhile, the highly anticipated reunion game with Kate Martin and Caitlin Clark will come four days earlier on May 25th, with the Indiana Fever visiting Vegas. The Aces will be in Chicago on June 27th to face the Sky at Wintrust Arena.
