By Madie Chandler | FeverBasketball.com

Before Thursday, one of the most exciting revelations in Makayla Timpson’s career with the Indiana Fever was having her own hotel room on road trips.

But as the Fever announced the official opening day roster on Thursday, Timpson’s top highlight changed. She is featured on that roster – the only rookie from Indiana’s 2025 draft class to accomplish such a feat.

“I’m just so grateful to be here,” Timpson said on Thursday. “[I’m] just thankful that they chose me to be the best fit for the team, and just excited to be around the vets and all my other teammates, to keep learning and absorbing what I can, you know, being a sponge. And hopefully I can do great things for the team.”

The Florida State product has what coach Stephanie White calls “tremendous upside” – her feel on the defensive side of the ball is undeniable. Timpson was elite in the ACC, producing the conference’s seventh 100-block season in history during her final year as a Seminole.

“She’s a player who, throughout the course of college, just continued to get better, continued to get more efficient,” White said of Timpson. “She does things that you can’t teach. She’s got a great feel about her and patience, and she’s coachable. The decisions that we make, some are about this year and some are about the future. And KK [Timpson]’s got a bright future ahead of her.”

Timpson made the ACC’s all-defensive team three times – every season after her freshman year. She snatched ACC most improved player honors following her sophomore season, and averaged a points/rebounds double-double each of her final two seasons on campus.

Now Timpson is united with another Florida State great in Natasha Howard, who also made the Fever’s 11-player roster. The two had a standing relationship through Timpson’s career in Tallahassee, but that connection grows as they seek to take strides toward a championship as members of the Indiana Fever.

“When Tash [Howard] speaks, everybody listens,” White said. “Because she doesn’t speak a lot, [so] everything that she says is important. I mean, you’re talking about a player who came into this league – much like KK [Timpson] – with great expectation, great upside, [and] really had to learn the league. [She] became a three-time champion, became a defensive player of the year, became a Hall of Famer, and so she did it the right way. So when she speaks people listen.”

White believes in Howard’s ability to leverage her relationship with Timpson into a mentorship that makes Timpson’s transition into the WNBA smooth and steady, showing her all the right habits to build an impressive resume as a critical piece of the Indiana Fever.

But that mentorship doesn’t just fall on the shoulders of Howard. Indiana is building a culture, a way of life that strengthens both the present and the future. Because dynasties are long term projects, collections of many miniscule moments and acquisitions that, when nurtured, reap championship-level benefits.

Timpson falls behind Hall of Fame names on Indiana’s depth chart now, but she has all the tools and resources to find herself making a massive impact down the line.

“They’re good people and they’re real genuine,” Timpson said of her veteran teammates. “They teach me every single day. I don’t only have one person in my ear, I have a lot of the vets in my ear, which is really great.”

The Fever’s investment into Timpson is a statement on the long-term dominance of the franchise. It’s a bet on themselves to remain successful and in the championship contention conversation far beyond the 2025 season.

Timpson recognizes the Fever’s appetite for success, and is dedicated to the work it’ll take for her to contribute to that success. But when she found out she made the final cut to be part of one of the WNBA’s most talented rosters, she had to call the people that were dedicated to her success first.

“I just make sure they’re always in the loop with everything,” Timpson said of her parents. “Those are my two greatest people in the world. I mean, my dad, he was just laughing. But they’re all super excited. I’m the first pro in the family, so it means a lot for me, and just to keep it going for my family means a lot as well.”

And keep it going, she will. All the way into the Fever’s season opener on Saturday against the Sky, because Makayla Timpson made that final crucial cut.