@CaitlinClark22 takes a break from her media tour to watch college teammate Kate Martin get interviewed by Holly Rowe after she’s drafted by the Aces.

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Kate Martin gets the surprise of her life: Went to the WNBA draft to support Caitlin Clark and wins the biggest prize of her life

Kate Martin traveled to the WNBA draft to support her Iowa teammate Caitlin Clark and ended up getting drafted by the Las Vegas Aces.

Martin was selected 18th overall by the defending champions.

“There are a lot of emotions right now,” Martin said in an interview on ESPN. “I’m really happy to be here. I was here to support Caitlin, but I was hoping to hear my name called. All I wanted was an opportunity and I got it. I’m really excited.”

Martin was among the 1,000 fans who were inside the Brooklyn Academy of Music, seated next to her former Iowa teammates Gabbie Marshall and Jada Gyamfi. As she heard her name called, she hugged Hawkeyes assistant coach Jan Jensen.

“I’m super excited for the opportunity. I have a really good work ethic,” Martin said.

She helped Iowa reach the NCAA title game for the second straight season and finished her career with 1,299 points, 756 rebounds and 473 assists.

Along with Clark, who was drafted first by Indiana, Iowa had two players selected in the draft for the first time since 1998.

The league will open training camp on April 28 and the season starts May 14.

The Aces didn’t have any picks in the first round, but made the most of three second-round choices. Las Vegas also chose Syracuse guard Dyaisha Fair, who finished as the third-leading scorer in NCAA Division I history, with the 16th pick.

The team closed out the round by drafting Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley, who is recovering from a torn ACL. She’s out for the season and showed up on crutches.

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“She waited until after she beat her” – Jason Whitlock has blunt take on South Carolina HC Dawn Staley’s support to $3.4M NIL-valued Caitlin Clark

Jason Whitlock has blunt take on South Carolina HC Dawn Staley.

Following South Carolina’s victory over Iowa in the NCAA championship game, head coach Dawn Staley found herself in the spotlight for her postgame comments from the podium.

She thanked God for her third championship and also acknowledged the $3.4 million NIL-valued (per On3) Caitlin Clark’s contribution to promoting women’s basketball.

These comments from Staley drew criticism from Jason Whitlock, who is known for his blunt takes on his show “Fearless.”

He called Staley’s tears “crocodile tears” and pointed out that Staley could’ve supported Clark earlier in the season but she chose to remain silent until after securing the championship.

“Dawn Staley run out here, pretend like, continue this gimmick that you love god and that you know Caitlin Clark is great,” Whitlock said.

“You know how long ago Dawn Stalye could’ve told everybody, “Hey, get up off Caitlin Clark’s back”.

Do you know how long ago she could’ve done that? But she waited until after she won the championship.”

“Caitlin Clark gets abused all season, everybody’s trying to diminish her, Dawn Staley is quiet.

Now that I got my championship, now god is good… and god answers all prayers and all,” Whitlock continued.

“You was favorite long before you won your first championship, and this is your third, and that you for all these crocodile tears on your third championship.

You’re more emotional about a third championship? You’ve lost one game in two years.

Now you’re like … this is the proof of how good god is. Had you lost, what would you have said?,” he added

Indeed, Caitlin Clark faced a lot of abuse throughout her college career. Despite all that, she never stopped and broke several records to etch her name in history.

She averaged 31.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game this season.

Moreover, she also became the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer and Naismith women’s player of the year 2024 twice.

Also Read: “Caitlin Clark was basically shut down rest of the game”: Mark Jackson lauds South Carolina’s Raven Johnson following national title win over Iowa

Caitlin Clark WNBA Draft Projection Updates

After an impressive college career, it doesn’t come as a surprise that Caitlin Clark, who declared for the WNBA Draft 2024, is expected to go first overall by the Indiana Fever.

At Fever, she would team up with last year’s top choice, Aliyah Boston, who formerly played for South Carolina. This will form an excellent duo in Indianapolis. The draft is slated for April 15 in New York City.

Also Read: Consensus 2024 WNBA No. 1 pick Caitlin Clark’s expected Fever debut see ticket prices soar up to $9148: Report

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Sheryl Swoopes apologized to Caitlin Clark for criticism of Iowa star and reveals the truth about their latest conversation

While approaching the NCAA Division I women’s basketball career scoring record, Caitlin Clark earned something more than just a spot in the sport’s history books.

She got an apology from one of the best women’s basketball players of all-time.

After taking a dig at the Iowa basketball star in comments that generated widespread attention and criticism, Sheryl Swoopes on Sunday said she has since reached out to Clark to talk things over and apologize.

LSU star Angel Reese, who had her own memorable moment last year with Clark during the national championship game, helped facilitate the conversation.

Swoopes said she spoke with Reese on the phone “a couple of weeks ago” and sent a message to Clark, who responded to initiate a back-and-forth.

“I won’t share what she said. I’ll leave that to her if she wants to share,” Swoopes said while on the broadcast of a Texas Tech-Baylor women’s basketball game on Sunday.

“But I will say, what I said to her was, ‘I made a mistake in saying it was your fifth year when it is your fourth.’”

Swoopes has one of the most decorated resumes of any player in women’s basketball history at any level, winning four WNBA championships, four Olympic gold medals, three WNBA MVP awards and an NCAA championship, the last of which she won at Texas Tech in 1993.

Swoopes was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

While making an appearance on a YouTube show hosted by former NBA all-star Gilbert Arenas earlier this month, Swoopes downplayed Clark’s pending ascent to No. 1 on the career scoring list by citing several inaccurate stats, saying that Clark is a 25-year-old player in her fifth year of college who attempts 40 shots a game.

The 22-year-old Clark is in just her fourth season at Iowa and averages 22.7 shots per game this season, which she makes at an efficient 47.5% clip.

Clark reached the record in her 126th career game, meaning she got to the mark in 13 fewer games than former Washington star Kelsey Plum, the previous record-holder.

Swoopes’ remarks drew significant blowback, both from Iowa fans and those across the sport.

Whatever acrimony that episode created is, according to Swoopes, in the past.

“I have nothing but respect for what she has done for the game,” Swoopes said Sunday.

“If she wants to share what her response was and how that conversation went, I’ll leave that to her. But it was a really good conversation.”