With an exposure-filled senior season on the horizon, Jared Martin stood on the Bobcat Stadium sidelines looking at a sea of gold with pleasant surprise.
The Sonny Holland south end-zone burst at the seams as thousands of students packed the section before the opening kickoff for Montana State’s “Gold Rush” 2017 football season. The seventh-largest crowd packed the stadium to watch MSU take on No. 4 South Dakota State, the highest-ranked non-conference opponent in the history of the venue.
“I loved the atmosphere at the football game and around the campus,” Martin said on Tuesday evening. “The town of Bozeman, you can tell that everything is kind of built around MSU and MSU athletics. I thought that was really cool. How everybody came out to support the football team, I loved the atmosphere.”
The smooth-shooting guard came to Bozeman on his official visit as a prospect of the Montana State basketball season. The 6-foot-5 three-star recruit is sure to see an increase in recruiting contacts after transferring from Saguaro High in Scottsdale, Arizona to Prolific Prep in Napa, California. The recently formed prep school is expected to be one of the top high school teams in the country this upcoming season.
Martin, who averaged 21 points per game as a junior and earned the reputation as one of the state’s top marksmen, will play in front of the top Division I head coaches in the country over the next six months. Teams like Oregon and UCLA have already been to Prolific Prep to watch workouts this fall. Josh Jackson, the No. 4 pick in the NBA Draft last summer by the Phoenix Suns, graduated from Prolific in 2016 before spending a year at Kansas.
Despite Martin’s upcoming elevated exposure, he came to Bozeman and did not want to leave. He committed to MSU before his senior season, giving MSU head coach Brian Fish his first commitment for his 2018 class. He will sign when the early period opens in November.
“The biggest thing I love about Coach Fish is he wants to win,” Martin said. “He really, really wants to win. He knows he has to bring good players in that know how to do that. That was a big thing I loved about him: he’s a huge competitor. He’s been at a lot of the top places in the country so he knows what it takes.”
MSU head coach Brian Fish/ by Brooks Nuanez
Martin chose Montana State over Hawaii, UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Northridge, California Baptist, Northern Arizona and Loyola Marymount. He also had strong interest from Pepperdine and other mid-major schools on the West Coast. Martin said Wednesday he had “a bunch of schools that have shown me interest coming to see me this week and next week. But he liked the fit at Montana State.
He committed to MSU before his senior season, giving MSU head coach Brian Fish his first commitment for his 2018 class. He will sign when the early period opens in November.
“I did a lot of research on Montana State and Montana and everything like that,” Martin said. “I had a pretty good idea going into it what to expect. It just exceeded my expectations and it just made me even more confident about my decision.”
Bozeman is a burgeoning city expected to continue thriving for the foreseeable future. Montana State has swelled to the state’s biggest school, earning a reputation as one of the top land-grant institutions in the West. Martin noticed the thriving culture on campus and around time.
“I thought Bozeman was great,” Martin said. “I loved the feel of the town. Going into downtown, it was really active, especially for the game. There was so many people out walking around. It was really cool to be a part of.”
“The other thing I loved about Montana State as a whole is they continue to improve and everything just keeps getting better and better. It’s awesome to watch.”
Martin’s trip to campus included a Saturday evening at the football stadium along with tours of campus, namely the Jake Jabs business building. Martin also got a chance to play with most of Montana State’s returning players in a pick-up game. Playing with and against a talented group, including first-team All-Big Sky junior shooting guard Tyler Hall and sophomore point guard Harald Frey, the reigning Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year.
MSU forward Zach Green (0) / By Brooks Nuanez
“There’s definitely a lot of talent there, a lot of good pieces,” Martin said. “I think once I get up there, get together and playing a lot together, I think it’s going to be really good.”
Martin will give the Bobcats an element of shooting it has been missing outside its starting backcourt. The Bobcats led the league by making 10 3-pointers a game last season. MSU shot 37.5 percent from deep, the fourth-best mark in the Big Sky. Hall made a Montana State-record 120 triples, firing at a scorching 43 percent clip. Frey added 70 3-pointers, shooting 41 percent from the arc, including 45.7 percent in league play.
The rest of the Bobcats made 32.3 percent of their tries from distance. Starters junior shooting guard Devonte Klines (26.2 percent) and senior swingman Zach Green (27.6 percent) struggled. Green hit four of his 29 3-point attempts in conference play.
“I would say my skill level is definitely something big,” Martin said. “I can definitely shoot the ball really well. The thing I take pride in is I’m not just a shooter. A lot of times people pin labels on guys, ‘Oh he’s just a shooter.’ I’m a really good shooter but I’m an all-around player. I can do a lot of things well. I can play multiple positions 1-3.”
During his junior season at Saguaro, he hit 62 3-pointers in 25 games and finished at 35 percent. He also shot 49 percent from inside the arc. He grabbed 8.1 rebounds and dished out 4.5 assists per game.. Martin said he’s comfortable playing on or off the ball.
“I’m really comfortable handling the ball, especially at my school in Arizona,” Martin said. “I had the ball in my hands a lot so I got comfortable doing it. Over the summer, I played a lot of 1-2 (for club team Powerhouse Hoops in Arizona) and at Prolific, I’m going to be playing a lot of point guard too.”
Jared Martin
Prospects typically go to prep schools like Prolific to garner more attention from college recruiters. That is not part of his focus anymore. But he still wants to take advantage of elite competition both internally and externally. Prolific ended the 2017 season as the 13th– ranked team in the nation. Some publications have them as a potential preseason No. 1 this winter.
“I’m trying to be the best player I can be in high school, college and beyond college,” Martin said. “My goal is to play professionally. Coming to Prolific Prep, it’s about trying to keep getting better. If I come here and go up against all the top guys in the country day in and day out in practice, then also on the grind session in every top tournament in the country, it’s only going to get me better and more prepared to play college ball. I want to go in early and make an impact.”
Having his commitment out of the way now allows him to focus on coming to Montana State ready to contribute.
“It’s 100 percent a relief and I’m really excited I can just buckle down and focus on my game,” Martin said. “Committing to Montana State, it’s very exciting. It’s a huge weight off my shoulders because I know I have a good place I’m going to college for four years. Now I can just focus on getting better and being prepared to come to Montana State and make an impact early.”
Photos courtesy of Martin family. All Rights Reserved.
