Good things don’t last forever. And most collegiate basketball players eventually must hang up their Nikes for a pair of dress shoes, and use their degrees to enter the workforce. But Iowa guards Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall aren’t ready for that just yet.
Martin andMarshall announced on social media that they’ll be using their COVID years, and will return to the Hawkeyes in 2024. It will be Martin’s 6th year, because she redshirted as a freshman. She’ll also be getting her masters degree, and without a penny of debt to her name.
“When I just think about being done with basketball. It just killed me,” Martin said. “Playing basketball this will be my sixth year — that’s a long time. Playing basketball is a commitment but there’s nothing else I’d rather do.”
“I’m not really ready to start my real jobs anyways,” Martin joked.
Martin is the Hawkeyes glue gal. Her intensity on the defensive end, and sharp-shooting excellence on the offensive has made her a key cog on the black and gold. But she’ll be remembered for the way she galvanized the team in the locker room, and on the field of battle.
“She’s able to hold everybody else accountable, motivate everybody, she’s your coach in the locker room as far as just making sure people are saying the right things,” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder shared. “You just can’t understand the value of somebody like that. It really is amazing that somebody with such great leadership skills is returning and helping us again.”
“There’s once in a lifetime players like Caitlin, but there’s once in a lifetime leaders like Kate,” Gabbie Marshall added. “She’s a very important part of this team. Not everything she does shows up on the box score, but what she does inside that locker room and inside the team meetings — there’s no words to describe it.”
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Both confessed they had made their decision to return months prior, but running it back wasn’t a difficult choice for Gabbie.
“It was really a no brainer for me,” Marshall said. “There were thoughts like, ‘Can I do this mentally and physically?’ But this place is just very special to me. And it’s been an honor to play under these coaches for the last four years. So I’m excited for next year.”
Starting center, and the Big Ten’s ninth all-time leading scorer, Monika Czinano came back for her fifth season with the Hawkeyes this year. Funny enough, it was exactly one year ago today that she announced it too. The fifth year factor makes it a tricky situation for Lisa Bluder, pitching to recruits the opportunity to play under the premise of seniors moving on.
But, she says the pros outweight the cons.
“Just getting the opportunity to delay that a year is incredible because you put so much into your players,” Bluder said. “Obviously teaching them a system and trying to grow their leadership skills and then just to be able to kind of enjoy it for a while. Otherwise, they are heading out the door right away. It’s just such a comforting feeling.”
In other news, forward McKenna Warnock will not be returning. Coach Bluder announced she will be going to dental school. Molly Davis is the only other senior with remaining eligibility.
Martin and her co-starter Marshall have been in the starting five every game this season. Marshall’s 1.5 steals per game are second to only Caitlin Clark. Kate Martin’s 41% three-point percentage is second to Warnock. No, neither will shatter the Big Ten record books like Clark or Czinano, but both are crucial role players that have helped the Hawkeyes play as well as they have.
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