“For the kids”: Aces’ Kate Martin has special message for Caitlin Clark’s former teammate Sydney Affolter’s meet and greet camp

Iowa Hawkeyes' Sydney Affolter met and played basketball with young players at her camp over the weekend. The guard posted pictures from it to her Instagram and captioned:

"So much fun with these kids at camp🤍🤍🤩 This is what it’s all about!:)"

Former teammate Kate Martin, who now plays for the Las Vegas Aces, commented on a picture:

"For the kids"

Sydney Affolter wrapped her most successful season at Iowa as a junior, averaging 8.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals.

She shot 55.2% from the floor and 41.4% from the three-point arc. After coming off the bench in the first two years, Sydney Affolter started 12 games last season.

“I love Syd,” Caitlin Clark said before the Elite Eight game. (via Daily Iowan) “From the Big Ten tournament really till this point, she’s been one of our best players, and it’s just been so fun to see because she deserves it more than anybody because that girl just works hard.”

“I’m not gonna lie, I haven’t always loved going against her (in practice) because she’s really good,” Kate Martin said. (via Daily Iowan) “She deserves this recognition because I’ve gone against her every day, so I’ve seen how good she is, and I’m glad that other people are starting to get to see it as well.”

With Martin, Clark and Gabbie Marshall gone, Sydney Affolter is expected to take a bigger role as a senior next season.

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Sydney Affolter and Jada Gyamfi welcome freshmen on move-in day as Iowa prepares for new season

Sydney Affolter, Jada Gyamfi and AJ Ediger took over the Iowa WBB Instagram as the Hawkeyes welcomed the incoming freshman class on Sunday, the move-in day. Ava Heiden, Aaliyah Guyton and Teagan Mallegni were featured on the Instagram stories while Callie Levin and Taylor Stremlow are yet to join.

The team also surprised Mallegni with a graduation ceremony, as she missed hers.

Move-in day snaps (Credit: Instagram/iowawbb)

Move-in day snaps (Credit: Instagram/iowawbb)

Apart from the roster change, the Iowa Hawkeyes have also undergone major changes in the coaching staff as Lisa Bluder retired as the head coach, while Jenni Fitzgerald retired from the assistant coach position.

Jan Jensen has taken over as the new coach for the Hawkeyes and she faces the uphill task of shaping the Iowa team in this post-Caitlin Clark era. Speaking on the future of the program during the introductory press conference, Jensen said:

"The same vision that I had working with Lisa will be continuing. You want to do it at a very high level. You want to do with integrity, never compromising your values, and you want to put a product on the floor that's fun to watch and fun to cheer for and fun to play. So that will remain the same."

"I'm not going to reinvent the wheel. We've had pretty good success. But, you know, I'm going to put my own little stamp on it, right? You know, we haven't ever full-court pressed before ... So you might see a few things differently."

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