Kate Martin’s Arrival for Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Jersey Retirement Catches Attention

It’s a special day for women’s college basketball as the Iowa Hawkeyes are set to retire Caitlin Clark’s No. 22 jersey on Sunday afternoon. And what better game to do it than with JuJu Watkins and No. 4 USC Trojans coming to Carver-Hawkeye Arena (CHA)?

In her four seasons with the Hawkeyes, the Indiana Fever guard became arguably the best player the women’s college basketball has ever seen. She won two National Player of the Year and was a three-time unanimous All-American. She also broke former LSU Tigers star Pete Maravich’s record for the most points in NCAA history (3,951).

The only thing Clark was unable to achieve in college was a championship, falling one game short in each of her final two seasons.

Right alongside Clark for her Iowa journey was Golden State Valkyries guard Kate Martin. Clark’s good friend showed up for the game in Iowa City despite playing an Unrivaled match in Miami, FL, on Saturday night.

Basketball fans noticed the same thing about Martin’s arrival to CHA, taking to social media to leave their thoughts.

“Flew in from her unrivaled game last night…” one fan said.

“Seeet girl just got off the plane,” added another.

“The fact that she found the time to do this,” wrote a third.

“she went straight from the airport i’m crying,” commented a fourth.

“fresh off the plane,” posted a fifth.

“Did Kate just land and head straight to CHA,” added a sixth.

Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark (22) celebrates with guard Kate Martin (20)

Martin was with the Hawkeyes from 2019-2024. In 163 career games, she averaged 8.0 points on 46.4% shooting, 4.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Martin was drafted by the Las Vegas Aces in 2024 but was selected by the Valkyries in December’s WNBA expansion draft.

Clark’s jersey retirement came following the Iowa vs. USC game. Joining Martin in the stands is new Fever coach Stephanie White, among others.