Being a top 10 pick carries some expectations and it did not take long for Markeisha Gatling to find her way out of the rotation in Chicago. Despite showing signs of what made her an All-American, she was unable to break onto the Sky roster at the start of the 2015 season.

But what it did was open the door in Seattle.

The Storm quickly scooped up the 6-foot-5 center after she was released and added her to a group of young and dynamic players that were going to take the Storm into a new era.

“Everybody welcomed me with open arms,” Gatling said. “It took me a while to get used to the system. It was a totally different system, totally different coaching staff. Once I got it, I felt it was a great fit for me.”

Much like her fellow early season pickup, Angel Goodrich, Gatling sat out the first eight games of the year before getting a chance to hit the court. She had to adjust to a brand new system under a new head coach without the luxury of training camp.

But once she got on the court, Gatling started to yield instant results.

In her first game of the season, she scored seven points in nine minutes off the bench. Gatling played sporadically during July but then broke through with her first double figure game when she scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds at Washington.

Then as the season wore on, she earned more minutes and when her former team, Chicago, came to town, she gave them a taste of what they could be missing. Gatling scored a career-high 16 points in 12 minutes.

“Staying after hours practice, I’d usually grab five people and run through plays,” Gatling said. “They helped me a lot. [Crystal Langhorne] was very open to helping me out with stuff. I talked to her a lot about different plays.”

Gatling continued to improved and ended the season with back-to-back double digit rebound performances, including her first double-double in a Storm uniform with 10 points and 10 rebounds against Minnesota.

“Last year, my rookie season, I didn¹t play at all really,” she said. “But this year, I’m coming into a team where the coach actually wants me to develop and do good. And I actually got playing time. It was like my rookie season all over again.”

In her first season in Seattle, Gatling averaged career highs in points (5.3), rebounds (3.7), and shot 86.8 percent from the free throw line.

She gained more confidence as the season wore on and her development under the basket should give fans something to look forward to next season.