NEW YORK (AP) — Kate Martin traveled to the WNBA draft to help her Iowa teammate Caitlin Clark and ended up getting drafted by the Las Vegas Aces.

Martin was chosen 18th general by the defending champions.

“There are quite a lot of feelings proper now,” Martin stated in an interview on ESPN. “I’m actually joyful to be right here. I used to be right here to help Caitlin, however I hoped to listen to my identify referred to as. All I needed was a chance and I acquired it. I’m actually excited.”

Martin was among the many 1,000 followers who had been contained in the Brooklyn Academy of Music, seated subsequent to her former Iowa teammates Gabbie Marshall and Jada Gyamfi. As she heard her identify referred to as, she hugged Hawkeyes assistant coach Jan Jensen.

“I’m tremendous excited for the chance. I’ve a extremely good work ethic,” Martin stated.

She helped Iowa attain the NCAA title sport for the second straight season and completed her profession with 1,299 factors, 756 rebounds and 473 assists.

Together with Clark, who was drafted first by Indiana, Iowa had two gamers chosen within the draft for the primary time since 1998.

The league will open coaching camp on April 28 and the season begins Might 14.

The Aces didn’t have any picks within the first spherical, however made probably the most of three second-round decisions. Las Vegas additionally selected Syracuse guard Dyaisha Honest, who completed because the third-leading scorer in NCAA Division I historical past, with the sixteenth choose.

The crew closed out the spherical by drafting Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley, who’s recovering from a torn ACL. She’s out for the season and confirmed up on crutches.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball