Josh Martin signs for next year?

[GreatDanes06]

Someone on the AE board said we signed this guy...anyone?

[Clickclack]

I'm at a loss....if I hear of yet one more recruit coming I'm gonna lose my mind. I thought he was a JUCO, glad to see he's not, I accidentally clicked on Moores and was perplexed as to why another JUCO.

 

Heres the link....on Rivals

 

He had some big schools chasing him, looks like a solid pickup.

[Clickclack]

If you click on the article....found this...

 

Position: Point guard

Height: 6-foot-2

AAU Team: Team Philly

Philly guards are tough, right? Martin certainly is. His nickname is 'Scrap' and it is fitting. Martin is a big guard that has study the book of Philly guards and uses what he has learned in his game.

 

On opening night, Martin connected on three straight three-pointers and locked down the opposition to claim a big victory.

 

Martin is big, strong, tough and one heck of a defender. The question for him is what level can he be the best college basketball player he can be? Surprisingly, the Atlantic 10 schools, minus LaSalle, have yet to offer. That should change come August. In fact, don't be surprised to see a couple of Big East programs flirt a little longer if he can build on his TOC showing.

 

I actually can't find anything confirming this signing. Anyone find anything?

[Clickclack]

Head on over to the AE board if you want a nice writeup from hoopscoop. Isbal was generous enough to hook us up.

[Clickclack]

Found video of Josh here.

 

Find him in the list of players midway down.

[UA_MA_2000]

Found video of Josh here.

 

Find him in the list of players midway down.

 

You guys always amaze me with how you find this stuff on the Internet ...

[Clickclack]

Me making like 5 post in a row, smacks of a few fries short of a happy meal. I admit it, I have a problem.

[alexfamous]

umm correct me if i am wrong but i did read that illinois, kentucky, temple, lasalle were his front runners....not UA

[Zalman B]

Can't find anything to confirm he signed, but I was able to dig up some newspaper articles from the Philadelphia Daily News on Martin:

 

January 24, 2007 Wednesday

For-Martin-decision-to-play-at-Gratz-as-easy-as-1-2-3

Ted Silary, Philadelphia Daily News

 

Jan. 24--Hopscotch is not a sport, but for Josh "Scrap" Martin it certainly became as much of a staple as basketball.

 

You know Martin. Star point guard for Cardinal Dougherty High... Wait, that was two seasons ago.

 

You know Martin. Star point guard for Prep Charter... Wait, that was last season.

 

You know Martin. Star point guard for Simon Gratz... As of yesterday, yes.

 

Just kidding. Martin, a 6-2, 190-pound senior, is going nowhere. But his head, he admits, is still spinning to some degree and he understands those folks who have found his nomad act intriguing.

 

"Some people talk bad about it. Some people talk good about it," he said. "I guess the comment I heard that most people were making about it was, 'He's just trying to find a home.'

 

"That one makes the most sense. And I did find one. Right here."

 

Martin talked yesterday outside a second-floor classroom after coach Leonard Poole chaired a lengthy postgame discussion.

 

Yes, the Bulldogs bested visiting Southern, 52-49, in a Public A contest. However, the game had mixed decent amounts of enjoyable viewing with too many stretches of hard to watch (mostly due to unforced errors), and Poole was muttering to himself and shaking his head back and forth as he strode into the classroom to talk to his players.

 

We'll let Martin do the condensing.

 

"He told us this stuff can't be happening," he said. "We have to do a better job. I can't even explain why it was going that way."

 

Being the team leader, Martin would very much include himself among the guilty. Only because it's the honorable thing to do. But except for his struggles at the foul line (3-for-7), he was a positive presence with 11 points and five assists.

 

His performance, especially in the second half, offered contrasts. Martin posted seven points in the third quarter thanks to authoritative drives that resulted in two "and-one" opportunities and were followed by his trademark growl and flex.

 

"People know me for that," he said, laughing. "I've been doing that since 10-and-unders. I just get intense, man. Emotion takes over. I get the best out of myself when I do things to make sure I'm into the game."

 

In the fourth quarter, he dished a trio of assists and took care of the ball.

 

"We knew Southern had great players and coaches," Martin said. "I started off just figuring what they were doing on defense and how to go at them. Coming out of halftime, the thought in my mind was, 'Attack, attack, attack. Drive and dish, or go all the way if they let me.'

 

"Our passing was spreading their defense. It was giving us gaps. I took advantage."

 

Looking back, Martin said he experienced "the best of three worlds" at Dougherty, Prep Charter (the PIAA Class AA state champ) and now Gratz. The transition from Catholic school to PC was difficult, he added, but he immediately felt comfortable at Gratz.

 

"The hardest part both times was adjusting to new people," he said. "It was easier here because I knew a lot of guys.

 

"I really feel if I'd been here all 4 years, I'd be mentally and physically prepared for college ball. And that's taking nothing away from my coaches at Dougherty and Prep Charter. Coach Poole and his assistants are reaching me."

 

Doors are opening. Toledo is in hot pursuit and Martin says he is leaning hard in that direction. An official visit will be made toward mid-February and discussions thereafter with Poole, and with his parents, could make things final. He's eyeing sports management.

 

Other Gratz leaders yesterday were forwards Tommie "T.J." Sykes (16 points, six apiece of rebounds and steals) and Ishmawiyl McFadden (seven boards, four blocks) and guard Charles White (two of his three treys in the fourth quarter).

 

Temple-bound swingman Ramone Moore was outstanding for Southern (23 points) until fouling out with 5 minutes left.

 

The Rams overcame his departure with six quick points, thus slicing Gratz' lead to 44-42, and were still within two, at 49-47, after Antoine Reese (14) drained a trey on a pass from frosh Shaquille Gaskins at 0:33. With the score at 51-47, Gaskins made a strong drive at 0:11 but was unable to can the layup. Martin sank a back end at 0:07 and Reese uncorked an uncontested dunk.

 

This season, Martin, though he'll never be mistaken for a whirlwind, is displaying improved quickness, along with stamina.

 

"With coach Poole," he said, "you have to run cross country."

 

Sometimes, hopscotching has its price.

[Zalman B]

March 12, 2007 Monday

Gratz-offense-running-in-high-gear-in-first-PIAA-win

Ted Silary, Philadelphia Daily News

 

ar. 12--When basketball coach Leonard Poole, of Simon Gratz High hits point guard Josh "Scrap" Martin with the ol' you-drive-our-car references, he likes to get specific.

 

"He always says we have a Mercedes-Benz," Martin said.

 

Funny he should mention that. A few months back, albeit briefly...

 

"My dad was having his car detailed and the loaner was a Mercedes-Benz," Martin said. "I got to drive it to school two times."

 

Did he obey the speed limit?

 

"I had no problem doing that. I wanted people to see me," he cracked.

 

Saturday at Northeast, the car was more like a bullet train.

 

Gratz was playing small and quick (and quick some more) Upper Darby in the first round of the PIAA Class AAAA state tournament and there was Martin, a 6-2, 185-pound senior, zoomin' all over the place. And producing fantastic results, both for himself and his teammates.

 

Gratz prevailed, 82-73. Martin shot 7-for-10 and 11-for-12 for 25 points, collected five apiece of assists and steals and even claimed seven rebounds.

 

Four of his successful feeds came in the first quarter as the Greyhounds -- oops, Bulldogs -- swooshed to a 26-10 advantage.

 

Twenty-six points? For Gratz? In a quarter? That's a half, most games.

 

"Coach Poole had us well-prepared," Martin said. "We usually don't play this style too much, but he thought we could run with them. We were working on it in practice and since we were doing well with it there, he said we'd use it in the game. His plan: Match fire with fire.

 

"[Fellow guard] Charles White likes to go online and check out all the teams. He was reading up on Upper Darby, how somebody said they were a sleeper team and were going to win. We knew they didn't have height, but man, they came out with no height. So I knew Ish and Tommie were going to have big games. They're not real big, but they can play and get up and down the court."

 

Ishmawiyl McFadden posted six rebounds and four blocks and scored 18 points while shooting 8-for-11 from the floor. Tommie "T.J." Sykes totaled 14 points (6-for-9) and nine boards.

 

White was hardly an afterthought, collecting 11 points and eight assists (five in the third quarter).

 

Gratz had suffered first-round state tournament dismissals in the Public League's first 2 years as a PIAA playing member. But if there's anyone who knows what it takes to succeed in that arena, it's Martin.

 

Just last March, he helped lead Prep Charter to the Class AA crown before opting to hit stop No. 3 on his personal high school trail (Cardinal Dougherty before that).

 

"Since the guys know I've been through this, they look to me," Martin said. "I try to give them help."

 

Meanwhile, he's still trying to regroup in light of the March 2 Pub final, when Gratz fell to none other than Prep Charter, 49-48.

 

"I still see all those guys. I'm still real close to them," Martin said. "That loss is still hard to swallow. I see them them around and it's like, 'Ugh.'

 

"You look at the game. We had more rebounds. Had a lot fewer turnovers. We just shot horrible. They get the congratulations."

 

Not too long ago, it appeared that Martin-to-Toledo was a done deal for next school year. But while Martin still lists Toledo as his "top dog," Wright State and Maryland-Eastern Shore are now pushing hard and the latter could very well be McFadden's future home.

 

"Me and Ish are real close," Martin said. "I've known him since 10-and-under days. I played against Ish and his dad was the coach."

 

He laughed. "We'd always beat them and then his dad would go out and get players over the age limit."

 

In Saturday's game, Martin had one bad moment. On a break, he was ready to pass to McFadden when a defender moved over.

 

"Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a good chance to hit Alibaba [Odd] for a basket," he said. "I should have just thrown him a regular bounce pass. But... I tried the behind-the-back. Phew, wasn't even close."

 

Martin said his first reaction was to look at Odd and ask, "Is [backup point guard] Travis White going to the table?"

 

Odd barely had a chance to respond before the buzzer sounded.

 

Martin headed to the bench for a brief chat with a veins-poppin'-out-of-his-neck Poole. The subject wasn't cars.

[Zalman B]

February 1, 2007 Thursday

Scouting report on area's top hoops prospects

Ted Silary, Philadelphia Daily News

 

Feb. 1--FOR THE 30th consecutive season, the Daily News is attempting to give college basketball coaches a helping hand with recruiting.

 

Our five categories for seniors are point guards, wing guards, small forwards, power forwards and centers. Players are categorized by the position we expect them to play in college. But remember, a player's role can depend upon the level of school he attends.

 

The players in "The Best" category are those we believe would be most capable of playing in Division I or the higher levels of Division II, or in a competitive junior-college program if there's a need for academic strengthening. "Others" are Division IIs or IIIs.

 

Our rating system: 1. big time; 2. mid-major; 3. low Division I; 4. high Division II. We have compiled a separate list of players who have already made commitments.

 

POINT GUARDS

 

The Best

 

Josh "Scrap" Martin, Gratz, 6-2, gets into lane, plays with edge, strong, Toledo heavy favorite, rating 3;

 

Joe Hoban, Malvern, 6-1, athletic/aggressive, transition no problem, goes toe-to-toe with bigger-rep players, Patriot/Ivy fit, also I-AA WR in FB, rating 3;

 

Kahlil Mumford, Dougherty, 5-9, lefty, deadly shooter from distance, springy, also WG, perceptive, rating 2-3;

 

<Remainder of article omitted>

[Zalman B]

And from the Philadelphia Inquirer:

 

Wed, Feb. 28, 2007

Martin and Bulldogs breeze into the final

By Jeff McLane

 

When Josh Martin transferred to Simon Gratz last summer, he knew the questions were coming.

 

You're transferring again?

 

Why are you leaving a team that just won a state title and returns most of its rotation?

 

Martin, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, would just grin, taking it all in stride.

 

But now he has his answer after Gratz breezed past Freire Charter, 69-35, in a Public League semifinal last night at St. Joseph's University.

 

The Bulldogs will face Martin's most recent former team, Prep Charter, the reigning PIAA Class AA state champion. The title game is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Temple's Liacouras Center.

 

The Huskies beat Franklin Learning Center, 49-40, in the second game of the doubleheader. Although Martin hadn't yet learned the result of the second semifinal, his thoughts were on the possible showdown with his old mates.

 

"I know everyone's going to be looking at me, but I'm not looking at it like that," Martin said. "I'm looking at it as if it's another team in our way of winning a championship."

 

Gratz (22-5) is the defending league champion. Prep Charter, however, with the Morris twins, Marcus and Markieff, has yet to claim a crown, despite a near-miss in the final two years ago.

 

Martin remains close to the Memphis-bound Morrises - "We talk every day," he said - but his reasons for leaving Prep Charter were partly logistical.

 

"It was just too much of a distance from my home," said Martin, who attended Cardinal Dougherty through his sophomore year. "I think it was hard on my parents to keep driving me from Olney to South Philly."

 

Martin also wanted to hone his point-guard skills. At Prep Charter, the position is more a product of the team's free-flowing style of basketball.

 

"At Gratz, there aren't any stars," Martin said. "There's just one team."

 

So, while it looked as if Martin was leaving the Huskies to establish his own identity, he joined the Bulldogs and took over Gratz's traditional point-guard role.

 

"The style that we're trying to teach him is the way he'll have to play in college," Gratz coach Leonard Poole said. "He'll have to defer to big people."

 

That's precisely what Martin did last night, yielding to forwards Tommie Sykes (17 points) and Ishmawiyl McFadden (12). Martin, who has offers from Division I Toledo and Wright State, finished with six assists and eight points.

 

Gratz almost never had to draw a sweat. Freire (12-5) simply was overmatched. Because the brackets were constructed to produce four District 12 classification champions, this semifinal pitted the Class AAAA champion (Gratz) against the Class A champion (Freire).

 

The final should be a much better test. As a matter of fact, Prep Charter beat Gratz in overtime during a summer tournament game.

 

"It's going to be a lot of fun," Martin said. "I can't wait to see who will win."

[Zalman B]

Just sent an e-mail to Ted Silary, who covers high school sports in Philly for the Daily News and wrote a couple of the stories above, asking about Martin. I'll let you know if I hear anything back.

[Zalman B]

Heard back from Ted Silary & it looks like we got him.

 

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/sports/200...ly_healthy.html

 

At the bottom:

 

"Evans to announce school

 

Northeast High's Sean Evans, the city's best two-sport athlete, will hold a 10 a.m. news conference Monday to announce his college decision.

 

Insiders seem to think his choice will be St. John's, for basketball.

 

The 6-7, 225-pound Evans was a second-team All-City selection in hoops and a first-teamer in football (as a defensive lineman). A while ago he decided to concentrate on basketball for college.

 

La Salle, Temple, Miami (Fla.), St. Bonaventure and Nebraska have joined St. John's in pushing hard.

 

Also, sources say Simon Gratz point guard Josh "Scrap" Martin has signed with Albany, and that a news conference will be held next week. *"

 

Brown did post on the 10th on his website that "The coaching staff has been busy recruiting. We are looking to add one more recruit to our 2007 class and we have been busy working the 2008 class." Looks like that one more is Martin. Wonder how the scholarships worked out; I guess someone gave theirs up? Must've been a good recruiting job by UAlbany staff b/c he seemd all but set on Toledo.

 

Welcome to the Danes Scrap!

[statefan]

I assume the following:

http://www.nj.com/forums/hshoopsboyss/

is what SienaTony is referring to on the Siena board, regarding Raffa not qualifying. If so, it does answer a lot of questions.