Kate Martin's Skeptical Caitlin Clark 'Rule the World' First Impression Comes True

Valkyries star Kate Martin's hilarious first impression of Caitlin Clark couldn't have been more accurate.

Mar 3, 2024; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark (22) reacts with guard Kate Martin (20) during senior day after the game against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Clark broke the NCAA basketball all-time scoring record during the second quarter. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Golden State Valkyries star Kate Martin celebrated her 25th birthday on June 5. And her former Iowa Hawkeyes teammate and close friend Caitlin Clark showed her love on this special day through an Instagram story post that featured the two of them walking together with their respective WNBA team uniforms with the caption, "see you v soon ily 🖤 @katemartin

"happy birthday kater!!!!!!”

caitlin greeting kate a happy birthday 🥹

“see you v soon ily 🖤
happy birthday kater!!!!!!”

the fever play the valkyries on june 19 pic.twitter.com/ZW1erwjB2A

— cc akgae (@clrkszn) June 5, 2025

It's clear that Clark and Martin still have a special relationship with one another, despite no longer being teammates. However, it seems that Martin needed some time to become convinced of Clark's basketball abilities living up to its initial hype, which she revealed with a hilarious story during a June 6 appearance on Sue Bird's Bird's Eye View podcast.

“[Clark] had come on a couple visits, and she was like a big name in Iowa. So I had heard about her," Martin said. "And so, I had heard about this Caitlin Clark, and I was watching videos of her just like having like 40 points, averaging a million in high school. And I was like, 'Oh, this girl thinks she’s gonna come here and rule the world.'

"And then she did. Came in right away and ruled the world," Martin added with a laugh. "And I was like 'Alright, here we go!' I just remember [we] had that summer before, and she was doing things that I had never seen before."

Kate on her first impressions of Caitlin

“I was like oh this girl thinks she’s gonna come here and rule the world…and there she did came right in and ruled the world…I just remember we had that summer before and she was doing things that I had never seen before.” pic.twitter.com/l6ELDnqlCK

— correlation (@nosyone4) June 6, 2025

It's hilarious to hear Martin's initial skepticism about Clark's abilities, considering what these two ended up accomplishing together. And they'll get to reunite on the court as competitors on June 19.