Sydney Colson Relays How Kate Martin’s Caitlin Clark Praise Influenced Fever Decision

On February 4, news broke that two-time WNBA champion Sydney Colson agreed to a deal with the Indiana Fever in free agency.

Colson addressed her decision to join the Fever in the team’s February 6 press release by saying, “I am very excited about this new opportunity with Indiana. I know several players and coaches from the Fever, and I trust what I know about them. I’m excited to be a part of the vision that the staff has for this team, and I’m ready to get to work.”

An interesting wrinkle was thrown into Colson’s ultimate decision from a February 7 article from TheNextHoops Fever reporter Tony East, where he wrote, “The Indiana Fever really wanted Colson. Caitlin Clark specifically hoped Colson could join the squad.”

Given that Colson played alongside Clark’s best friend Kate Martin during Martin’s rookie season with the Las Vegas Aces, this quote made one wonder whether Martin’s stamp of approval is what compelled Clark to hope for Colson to join Indiana.

The opposite is seemingly true, according to reporting from Athletes Unlimited broadcaster Emily Proud during a February 7 game.

“She said, ‘You know what? I’m at the end of my career. I just wanted to be somewhere that wants to win with a huge focus on culture,'” Proud said of Colson’s thinking on her free agency decision, per an X post from @nosyone4. “She said that Kelsey Mitchell was actually the first person she hit up because they built a bond here, playing AU for the last three years.”

Proud later added, “She said she heard some good things about Caitlin Clark from her Aces teammate Kate Martin as well. So that made the decision easy.”

Clearly Martin painted Clark in a good light, which may have helped convince Colson to join the Fever.