Now that Florida’s frontcourt recruiting has been largely wrapped up with the additions of Sam Alexis and Rueben Chinyelu the Gators will turn their focus towards the perimeter. One of the recent names they have been after most aggressively is a name that has exploded onto the national scene in the last year–Florida Atlantic’s Alijah Martin.
For many, Martin’s name first came up when Florida Atlantic came into Gainesville last season and handed the Gators a frustrating home loss. Martin had 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals with 0 turnovers, playing a pivotal role in securing the win for the Owls. Of course, Florida Atlantic’s season didn’t end with that win over the Gators as they went on to not only make the NCAA Tournament, but fight their way to a Final Four. Martin was a key player for that team and saved his best for last, going for 26 points and 7 rebounds in the single point loss to San Diego State in the Final Four, nearly single handedly willing his team to the National Championship game.
Alongside all of his teammates that chose to do the same, Martin returned to Florida Atlantic for his senior season where he averaged 13.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.6 steals. The season didn’t go exactly as planned, but the Owls still made the NCAA Tournament and finished the season 47th in KenPom. With head coach Dusty May heading to Michigan Martin is now choosing to play his final season elsewhere–and Florida is right in the mix.
Martin has already made a visit to Florida, though the scary visit for the Gators will be this weekend when he goes to Ole Miss. This would bring Martin closer to home as a Summit, Mississippi native, and while that is a cause for concern from a Florida standpoint the staff still feels good about this recruitment.
Right now Martin is keeping things extremely quiet regarding his recruitment and it’s unknown who all he is considering, and even whether he has taken any visits that people aren’t aware about. Martin entered the transfer portal with a “do not contact” tag which is rare for a player who will be recruited at such a high level, but it allows him to forego the tsunami of text messages and calls that usually come with an entrance in the portal and instead allows him to dictate the teams he gets in contact with.
Martin is an interesting player who doesn’t fit traditional positional molds. Standing at just 6’2” you might expect him to be a point guard, but he doesn’t handle the ball all that much and isn’t someone you necessarily want running a pick and roll. However, he is excellent in transition and is relentless attacking the rim on ball reversals, and still is able to put up solid point totals as an undersized guard that doesn’t have flashy ball skills. He is also an extremely accomplished shooter with a career 37% three-point stroke on, wait for it–601 career attempts. There aren’t that many players in college who have taken that many threes, and while he can run hot and cold–the numbers always balance out favorably.
While there is some offensive juice with his shooting, Martin’s best attribute is his defense. He might be just 6’2” but he’s extremely strong and Dusty May tasked him with guarding the opposing team’s best perimeter player whether that guy was 5’10” and 160 pounds or 6’7” and 225.
It is clear with Florida’s portal targets that they are looking to get back to the defensive identity that Todd Golden has been more comfortable with throughout his coaching career. Sam Alexis and Rueben Chinuyelu are both players that are better on the defensive end than the offensive side, and while Martin does bring some off ball scoring to the offensive end and is still a positive offensive player–he is definitely best on the defensive side of the ball. If the Gators were to land Martin you can expect the Gators to look a lot different next season and almost guarantee they make a huge jump on the defensive end.
With Martin keeping things quiet there is no known timetable for a decision, but he currently stands as one of Florida’s top portal targets.