This story has been updated with new information.
Former Iowa women’s basketball star Kate Martin was selected by the Golden State Valkyries in Friday’s WNBA expansion draft.
Martin played for the Las Vegas Aces as a rookie last year and has become one of the most popular players in the league.
The WNBA announced the results of the draft Friday night. Martin was the sixth player chosen.
The Valkyries, the league’s 13th franchise, will begin play in the 2025 season, which tips off in May. The first step, however, began Friday with the expansion draft. Golden State selected players from the 12 other franchises that have not been protected or cored by those teams, but the Valkyries could not draft more than one player from any given team.
Leading up to Friday’s expansion draft, each of the 12 current WNBA teams submitted a roster list to the league in late November that highlighted every player the team has rights to. Each team can designate up to six protected players on their roster, making them ineligible for selection by Golden State. Any player under a core designation — comparable to the NFL’s franchise tag — was also ineligible for selection. Every other player was fair game for the Valkyries to select in the expansion draft.
Martin averaged 2.6 points and 11.5 minutes per game as a rookie last season. She also will play in the new Unrivaled 3-on-3 league in 2025.
Martin played on Iowa’s back-to-back NCAA runner-up teams in 2023 and 2024 before being drafted by the Aces.
More:Golden State Valkyries pick their players for 2025 in WNBA expansion draft. See list
USA Today contributed to this report.
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