“My ride or die”: Iowa’s Jada Gyamfi pens heartfelt birthday wish for 'best friend' Gabbie Marshall via IG

Jada Gyamfi is part of the Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team. Last season, she had the opportunity to play with Caitlin Clark, one of the best players in women's basketball. The latter helped the Hawkeyes reach the national championship final.

However, it was not just Clark who Gyamfi played with. She also shared the court with Gabbie Marshall. Today (August 22) is Marshall's birthday, and Gyamfi shared a birthday message for her "best friend" on Instagram.

"My ride or die. Best friend for life & what got me through the hardest days. I love you for life gab".

Picture Source: jadegyamfi (Instagram)

Gyamfi has had two seasons in college basketball and has had limited playing time. For example, during the 2023-24 season, Gyamfi played 20 games and was on court for an average of only four minutes per game, scoring 1.4 points and 0.2 assists on average.

These limited performances have been because of the presence of the likes of Clark and Marshall. They have been the team's leading players, partly due to their experience and partly due to their strong basketball abilities.

Where are Caitlin Clark and Gabbie Marshall now?

While Gyamfi is still with the Hawkeyes and will be going into her third year with the program, both Clark and Marshall are no longer with the team. But, they have taken very different paths.

Caitlin Clark declared for the 2024 WNBA Draft, where she was chosen as the number one pick by the Indiana Fever. She is currently playing for the Fever in the WNBA, and this is the reason why the league is experiencing a resurgence after years of stagnation.

Gabbie Marshall is not playing basketball. After her final season with Iowa, she announced her retirement from the sport. Marshall is now attending graduate school.

Jada Gyamfi shares a story about Gabbie Marshall

Jada Gyamfi and Gabbie Marshall developed a strong friendship during their time with the Iowa Hawkeyes. During a Q&A season with The Daily Iowan, Gyamfi recalled a funny moment between the pair which, in turn, strengthened their relationship.

"When we were overseas [last offseason] — I think we were in Croatia — and we went kayaking. I had never been kayaking before. Gabbie was my partner, and we were terrible at it. I thought we were going to have to call a helicopter to come and get us out. We were drifting off over into islands, getting lapped by the group that went behind us.

"Even coach [Lisa] Bluder zoomed past us. And that’s how you know it’s really bad. Coach Bluder should not be beating us … We were just spinning in circles. By the time we got back to land, we had cried five times but laughed the whole time."

Moments like this show that teammates on the court are also friends off it, and this relationship between the pair would have only helped them in their sporting career.

Even now, despite Gabbie Marshall no longer playing basketball, she will always have Jada Gyamfi as a friend.