WE HAVE RECRUITING NEWS!
The summer’s always a good time for recruiting news, since the next recruiting class gets to sign their letters of intent coming up in early November and why not get your decision out of the way before your senior year starts? Whatever the reason, Marquette men’s basketball has their first Class of 2027 commitment as of Friday morning after top 150 prospect Marlon Martinez announced that he’ll be attending college in Milwaukee and playing for head coach Shaka Smart.
247 Sports
lists Marlon Martinez as a 6’4”, 200 pound shooting guard out of Florida, where he attends The Academy of Central Florida. I presume that this is not a prep academy connected to UCF even though it’s a 15 minute drive away in Orlando. In any case, Martinez is ranked at #119 in the country in 247 Sports’ internal system and #140 in the country in their Composite Rankings. He’s at #117 in the country according to Rivals/On3, but their Industry ranking has him at #135. Why do both combination have him lower? Probably because ESPN doesn’t have him in the top 100. ESPN does grade Martinez at 78 and a three-star prospect, and considering that their top 100 ends at 82 in the four-star category, you get why 247 and Rivals have the combo number a bit lower.
It doesn’t appear that Martinez ever had a cutdown list of options. At the very least, he didn’t trim things down after taking an official visit to Marquette right before the Golden Eagles went on their tour of Canada. I think it’s interesting that Dushawn London from 247 Sports lists Martinez at 6’5” and 180 pounds in the graphic that he posted to announce that visit, seeing as that’s different from what his official 247 Sports page says about him. In any case, Martinez wasn’t short on high major attention, as he also had offers from the like of Illinois, Mississippi State, and Ohio State.
Would you like a scouting report from late May from 247’s Adam Finkelstein?
Martinez is a gifted offensive player who is not only very skilled, but poses a difficult match-up for opposing perimeter defenders because of his size and length. He has a broader frame with a nearly 6-foot-10 wingspan and natural strength, but plenty of room to keep improving his conditioning and defining his frame. He also has the versatility to play both on and off the ball. He can operate like a jumbo initiator and create offense for himself and his teammates, but also be valuable off the ball with his three-point shooting.
Martinez isn’t just skilled, but smooth and crafty with the ball. He may not be a naturally explosive athlete, but he has some sneaky burst to the rim and can then elongate his strides through the lane. He has a very fluid release to his pull-up game, and is just as dangerous from long-range as he is in the mid-range area. He shot 48% from behind the arc in FIBA play this year, and while he has more of a set-shot off the catch, he possesses definite gravity spacing the floor and the ability to make movement threes.
He averaged 19 points, nearly 6 rebounds, and 4 assists for the Dominican Republic in the FIBA U18 Americas, leading the tournament in scoring while posting shooting splits of 58/48/89. He’s not always quite that efficient in other settings though. His defensive commitment can waiver and there are times when he can dominate the ball. Being consistent in those areas, and simultaneously continuing to develop his body, will help take his game to new levels, but the bottom line is he’s a big guard with long arms who can make shots and plays alike.
Let’s talk about that FIBA U18 AmeriCup mention in that last paragraph. Martinez played for the Dominican Republic in that event, which was back in early June. The DR went 2-1 in group play, losing only to eventual champion Canada. That put them in second place in that group, but unfortunately they took a quarterfinal loss to Brazil in the knockout round. They also lost to Venezuela in the consolation group before beating Mexico to end up with a 7th place finish in the eight team event. Considering that Martinez led the entire tournament in scoring, plus led the Dominican team in rebounding and was second in assists and third in both blocks and steals, I don’t think we can really pin any of the difficulties on him very quickly. Is he going to shoot 65% on two-pointers and 48% on three-pointers for the rest of his life? Probably not, but he did all that on a very big stage.
Can I interest you in six minutes of highlights from that AmeriCup run? While you’re watching, keep in mind that Ben Steele from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has reported that Marquette coaches were present in Mexico for some of these games.
And now, the brand new scholarship chart.
The intriguing part here is that Marquette only had two scholarships open as of yesterday for the Class of 2027, and if we’re being honest, “6’5”, 180 pound shooting guard/wing” is not exactly a spot of need for Marquette, and not really until 2029 when the Golden Eagles will be projected to lose both Nolan Minessale and Damarius Owens. Now, I would like to refer back to Martinez averaging just under four assists per game in the AmeriCup, and if he’s got that kind of distribution skills, perhaps he can earn a few minutes playing behind Nigel James for a couple of years while also filling in at the 2 and the 3 as well.
With Sananda Fru possibly being done after this season even with the 5 years/5 seasons rule in place — Fru was granted two years of eligibility when he first joined Louisville — it would certainly look like Marquette is going to be in the market for a new starting center come next April. With just one scholarship projected as open right now, it would certainly look like that spot has to be reserved for that big man, even if it is Fru being allowed to return for one more year than previously expected.
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