Kate Martin set Iowa basketball fans buzzing on Monday evening after sharing a cryptic teaser from the Iowa Hawkeyes' official social media accounts, promising a major career announcement at 7 p.m. The former Hawkeye standout, whose professional path has taken several sharp turns this fall, has not revealed what the news is.
The teaser shows a girl with her back to the camera, facing a large screen playing a montage of Iowa greats. It ends with a simple line: 7 p.m. tonight. Martin reposted it to her Instagram story, and the guessing started immediately, according to Yahoo Sports.
Why the timing has fans talking
The teaser lands at a rocky moment in Martin's professional career. On Wednesday, she and Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 women's league, agreed to end her contract just two months after she signed a multi-year deal in August. The league's third season tips off Jan. 8 in Boston, and Unrivaled has already signed Isabelle Harrison and Kaitlyn Chen to one-year deals as replacements.
Unrivaled executive Clare Duwelius said the league will always celebrate Martin as one of its inaugural athletes. Martin, in her own statement, said she is excited about what's on the horizon for her.
Her WNBA situation is just as unsettled. Martin's one-year development contract with the Chicago Sky is expiring, which makes her a free agent before the 2027 season. The Sky finished 16-28 and missed the playoffs.
A turbulent year across the WNBA
Martin has bounced around the league since the Las Vegas Aces drafted her 18th overall in 2024, as Athlon Sports reported. The Golden State Valkyries waived her days before the season began. She played 17 games for the Los Angeles Sparks and two for the Sky, logging fewer than 150 minutes all season. With the Sparks, she averaged 2.3 points in 7.1 minutes per game, the lowest numbers of her WNBA career.
The twists have come fast. In August, she celebrated her Unrivaled deal with a cheerful post on Instagram, only for the Sparks to waive her an hour later.
Analysts have taken notice of the pattern. One wrote that her WNBA future looks murkier than ever and questioned whether her next move involves professional basketball at all. Another pointed to her remaining options, from overseas leagues to the new UpShot League, which expands to eight teams in 2027.
That is why an Iowa teaser stands out
The countdown post came from Iowa, not from a WNBA team or agent, and that detail has fans convinced the announcement reaches beyond the WNBA. The post itself gives nothing else away.
The comments filled up within minutes. One fan wrote,