"The best 3 some in Iowa": College hoops fans react to Caitlin Clark reunite with former Hawkeyes teammates Kate Martin & Gabbie Marshall

The Iowa Hawkeyes retired Caitlin Clark's No. 22 jersey on Sunday and her former teammates, Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall, were in attendance at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The trio played a crucial role in Iowa's back-to-back trips to the national championship game in 2023 and 2024.

After the Hawkeyes defeated the No. 4 USC Trojans 76-67, Clark, joined by her family, former coach Lisa Bluder, Indiana Fever staff and 14,998 fans, watched her jersey join the rafters alongside Megan Gustafson's (No. 10) and Michelle Edwards' (No. 30).

Later, Iowa posted photos of Clark, Martin and Marshall hugging backstage on Instagram with the caption:

"Reunited."

Fans in the comments shared their excitement and joy at seeing their favorite players together again after they last played together in April 2024.

"The best 3 some in Iowa hx! 🔥🔥🔥," one fan wrote.

"These 3 are so special, not just because of basketball, because of their friendship," another commented.

"Sisters forever"

Here are some more reactions:

"They look so freaking happy"

"The band is back together!!"

"That hug made me tear up"

Fan reactions to Iowa's iconic trio (Credits: Instagram/@iowawbb)

After their graduation, Kate Martin and Caitlin Clark continued their playing careers in the WNBA. Gabbie Marshall, meanwhile, retired and is pursuing her master's degree in occupational therapy from the University of North Carolina.

Caitlin Clark hopes to bring Kate Martin to Indiana

While Clark is with the Indiana Fever, Martin moved to a new WNBA team, the Golden State Valkyries, as part of the new expansion team draft. She is also playing in Unrivaled, for the Laces BC. The guard had a game on Saturday night in Miami.

After defeating Rose BC 83-69, she caught the overnight flight to be present for her best friend in Iowa City the next afternoon. While Clark led the Hawkeyes to great heights, Martin was the constant support. Nicknamed 'The Glue,' the former Aces guard played a crucial role in leading Iowa as a reliable leader.

With them being apart, there is some hope that Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin could share the court.

“Hopefully I can recruit her to the Fever somehow, some way one day, who knows?” Caitlin Clark said (via SF Chronicle). “I’m gonna try to figure that out. That’s my goal at some point in my career, to team up with Kate again. But we’ll see if that happens.”

The Indiana Fever have already made some major moves this offseason so Clark will have to wait a bit before she can see Martin join the team.

About the author

Ruth is a College Sports writer at Sportskeeda with over two years of experience reporting for multiple publications. Ruth values thorough research while reporting and leaves nothing for assumption, emphasizing the ethics needed to write about the human aspect of a player. She is an expert in profiling and giving fans a peek into their favorite players outside of the sport.

Ruth has reported for The Covai Mail and worked for Anandha Vikatan as a press correspondent. She has a master's degree in English, which influenced her journey into writing, and her love for sports was mainly due to watching it while growing up. Ruth enjoys college sports as much as the NBA and NFL because of the dedicated fan-following college programs have.

The South Carolina Gamecocks are her favorite college program, and she considers them the definition of rising from the ashes. Their coach, Dawn Staley, is Ruth’s favorite coach of all time because of how she built the culture in the program and the camaraderie in her squad. Jared McCain and Angel Reese are her favorite players for being unapologetically themselves. Ruth also admires Caitlin Clark for being one of the best and yet staying humble and holding herself high.

Ruth likes to watch interior design shows on Netflix or travel vlogs on YouTube when not reporting. Her favorite College Sports moment of all time was when Angel Reese blocked a shot with an untied shoe in her hand.

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Edited by Brad Taningco