“A lap dance type of deal”: Former Iowa star Kate Martin reveals the freshmen tradition her seniors carried out during her time with the Hawkeyes

Las Vegas Aces guard Kate Martin discussed some of the traditions she was involved in during hawkeyes-football' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'>hawkeyes' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'>hawkeyes' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'>hawkeyes-elite-eight-appearance-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-is-sponsored="false">her five years with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

On the "Fresh Tawk" podcast with former Iowa teammate Jada Gyamfi, Martin reminisced about her freshman year and recalled an unusual practice initiated by her seniors.

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"My freshman year, they actually used to make us do a dance in front of the team," Martin said. (49:30)

"Like a lap dance type of deal, on a chair. No one to use on the chair but yeah, and I was injured so I was like 'I can't you know.' I don't even remember Monika and them did it but yeah, it was something scary," she added.

The conversation sparked when Martin shared a funny incident with a fan a day before shooting the podcast. During her autograph signing at Dick's Sporting Goods, Martin was approached by a fan for a selfie. As she leaned in for the picture, she was caught off guard by the fan's use of a Snapchat beauty filter.

Kate Martin impressing fans in rookie season

Through 22 games, Martin is averaging 2.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists while playing under 15 minutes per game. Even though her numbers are not top-notch, Martin has become a fan favorite and was one of the top 36 vote-getters for the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game.

Interestingly, before the 2024 WNBA draft, Kate Martin believed that her professional basketball career was over since she could not garner an official draft night invite from the league. Nevertheless, she was picked 18th by the Las Vegas Aces.

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