EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — The WNBA season tips off this week. Already big-name rookies like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are bringing new energy to the league and women's professional sports.
You can add Edwardsville standout Kate Martin to that list now, too, as the newest member of the Las Vegas Aces.
With only 12 teams and a maximum of 144 roster spots, the WNBA is one of the hardest leagues to make. About a month ago, Martin wasn't even sure if she'd be drafted at all.
However, the Aces told 5 On Your Side that she'll be on the opening day roster Tuesday night.
"They don't take very many, it's tough," Kate's dad, Matt Martin, said ahead of the roster announcement.
Yet, his daughter did it.
Martin continues to help brighten the spotlight on women's basketball after record-breaking numbers of viewers during the women's March Madness tournament.
"I would never call myself a sports celebrity and I never will even if I was the most famous person in the world," Martin said. "My brain doesn't wrap around that. I'm just myself. I'm just Kate. I'm just the kid who had a dream to play at Iowa and live that out. I'm just a daughter, a sister, a friend, a teammate."
Martin's former teammate all-time leading NCAA scorer Clark, a logo-three legend, will also be making her WNBA regular season debut Tuesday with her new team, the Indiana Fever.
Both Clark and Martin are now inspiring the next generation at Martin's alma mater, Edwardsville High School.
"It's just so fun to watch them because it shows the power of women's sports and what they can really bring to the game," said Blakely Hockett, a junior at Edwardsville who has been on the varsity basketball team since she was a freshman. "They brought so much hype to the game and all these viewers. It shows that women can do so much."
Martin's autograph is ready for this moment.
"When Kate was little, she used to say 'When, I'm famous, people are going to see my name in their house,'" said Jill Martin, Kate's mom. "So sure enough, our friends who live in our house down in Edwardsville opened a drawer, and there is Kate's name hidden way back in the corner of the drawer."
Back in April, Clark was the No. 1 draft pick. Martin was drafted in the second round and said she packed a nice outfit to wear New York just in case her name was called, though she said she mostly went to cheer on Clark.
"We had heard maybe Indiana would take Kate the third round," her dad said. "That was our best hope for the draft, and well, obviously that didn't happen."
While Kate and Clark didn't end up being teammates in the pros from the start, as more people watch this season it may mean bigger returns for both players and those like Hockett still coming up the pipeline.
It's a sentiment shared by early 2000s WNBA player Natalie Williams, who is now the general manager of the Aces.
"Just to get the excitement around women's basketball that we have now, we had a good crowd when I played," Williams said. "It's just amazing. It's wonderful for these young athletes to get this. This is what they deserve. I'm sure in the future the financial part will come along with it."
The Aces kick off their season Tuesday night in Vegas, where they will take on the Phoenix Mercury.
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