K.J. Martin sets first official visit
CULVER CITY, Calif. - The son of former NBA player Kenyon Martin has not skipped a beat after a strong summer playing for the Oakland Soldiers on Nike's EYBL. K.J. Martin has had a busy couple months playing fall ball with his high school team Sierra Canyon and recently set his first official visit to West Virginia for Oct. 24.
Why would a California kid go all the way to the eastern time zone for school? Martin has family ties to West Virginia as his dad played for coach Bob Huggins at Cincinnati and has given some advice to his son about playing for the future Hall of Fame coach.
"My dad just tells me to be ready to play hard all the time. You can’t take any plays off even in practice. Coach Huggins is all about the next play and if you don’t score, it’s ok, but you just have to play hard. West Virginia's defense is ridiculous and it all come from just working hard," Martin said.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
Martin released a list of top 8 schools in August of Nevada, Oklahoma, Georgetown, Florida State, West Virginia, Memphis, Oregon State and Cincinnati but says there are four schools he's really looking at right now for possible visits.
West Virginia: "I just want to go and see the team practice and see their playing style and see if it fits mine. I’m just looking for a place where I don’t have to change my game up. I know it’s far away from home and of course that is a factor, but I know if I went there I would get used to it."
Nevada: It’s a great school and a great program. It’s closer to home and I feel like I could fit in there. Coach (Eric) Musselman is a really good coach. He’s coached at both the NBA level and college level and been successful, so I know there’s a lot I could learn from him. They’re always in the thick of things in March and surprising people come tournament time. I’m going to try to get out there for a visit at some point."
Memphis: "Coach Penny (Hardaway) hasn’t come by for an in-home visit yet, but I saw him at Peach Jam and got to talk to him a little bit there. I know him and the coaching staff are building something at Memphis with a lot of new guys coming in and it’s going to be special. I just feel like I could come in and be a part of a really talented class."
Cincinnati: "Obviously my dad played there, so there’s some family history. I don’t feel any pressure at all to follow in his footsteps and it’s not like he’s pushing me to one school or another. The coaching staff is great and they’ve been showing love throughout the whole process."
WHAT'S NEXT?
Expect Martin to set his other official visits in the coming weeks. He plans on making his announcement around New Year's, so there's still plenty of time for things to play out. In the meantime he'll be dominating the rim during fall tournaments around Southern California which are well documented on his twitter feed.
RIVALS REACTION
West Virginia sits in a good place right now securing the first official visit. The fact that his dad played for Huggins and was able to get to the NBA bodes well for the Mountaineers. Don't sleep on Memphis or Nevada. The longer Martin's recruitment goes allows space for either one of those to sneak in and take the lead.