Todd Martin

[Dane Pound]

I found this kind of interesting. I read on the AE Board that Todd Martin has accepted a scholarship to Troy State of the Atlantic Sun Conference next year. I didn't realize that he is actually redshirting this year at a JUCO school in California.

 

I wonder how, after the freshman year he had, he could impress a coach enough to offer him a scholarship by not playing. I really don't mean to bash him, I'm just curious. I thought he could be a decent PF if he added some weight but he was never the wing he was advertised to be.

[big growl 01]

Actually Todd had 12 full ride offers, with 10 for the early signing period. Some of the Schools included were:

 

Arkansas Little Rock

Georgia Southern*

Northern Illinois

Minnesota

Long Beach State*

Cal State Fullerton

Penn State

UC Riverside*

Nicholls State

Pacific

Troy*

 

*Took recruiting visits

 

Believe it or not, Sometimes players are handculffed.

 

Todd went to the Mullens Camp (Tulsa OK.) over the summer and tore them up. Playing agains the best Juco players in the Nation, Todd averaged 24 points, 11.5 Rebounds and 3 asst over the 5 games. Shot over 40% from 3pt.

 

After that Todd had 5 coaches per day coming to Chaffey college for privite workouts durring the open period. He took several visits and decided on Troy for there high powerd offense. Troy was second in the Nation last year in offense behind U Arizona. First in the nation in 3pointers. Won there conference 3 straight years and 4 out of the last 5.

 

Troy was in the NIT last year and the NCCA tournament in 2001. Troy will move up in class to the Sun Belt Conference next year.

 

Todd will play his natural position @ Troy, Small Forward.

 

Good Luck to all my friends still in the Albany area.

 

Paul Martin

Todd's Father

[Dane Pound]

Thanks for giving us the rest of the story.

 

Last year was a tough situation for the freshman and upperclassmen alike with injury and other problems. Todd was certainly thrown into a difficult spot and I was sorry to see him transfer out.

 

Hopefully he's found a situation that suits him better at Troy State and I wish him luck there and beyond.

[coachplayznoD]

I for one never believed that your son was handcuffed. He started off the year with a bang. I thought that he played extremely well during the Siena game. Things got worse as the season progress. Todd made plays on the court that were not acceptable for a divison 1 player. His passes were often telegraphed and it was very clear that he did not have to foot speed to play the defense that Coach Brown demenaded out of his players. He had trouble putting the ball in the basket and never again attacked the boards like he did in the Siena game.

The one good thing that could be said is that Todd parted ways from the UAlbany program before things got worse. With the freshman that Coach Brown brought in this year, your son's playing time would have certainly diminsihed more than it already had.

I wish you and your son the best of luck. I think that everyone deserves a second chance to be successful and hopefully your son will find that at Troy State.

[Patch]

big growl 01

 

Great to hear Todd is doing so well.

 

I also see that Troy website lists him as 6'8" and 225lb. The extran inch and moreso the extra 20 lbs will do him well at the DI.

 

I hope Troy has recruited more talent besides, Todd.

 

They are 0-5 now and moving up in class next year to the Sun Belt, I believe. They will need Todd and alot more to be successful at that level.

 

"Good Luck" to Todd, I for one will surely follow his progress during his 3 years of eligibility.

[McFan]

Todd was handcuffed and poorly utilized (considering there were only seven players at times). He certainly had his strengths and weaknesses. He was afterall a freshman.

 

I agree with the "handcuffed" based on the following:

 

1. Everytime he had a turnover (which he had more than he should have) he looked at the bench and was quickly replaced. You can't play basketball afraid to make a mistake. Aggressive play wins games.

 

2. He was constantly playing on "D" out of position and was blown past by smaller quicker players.

 

I called it (the transfer) about mid-way of the conference schedule. No reason (except knowing the incoming class was more skilled and Albany did not need him) for a kid with decent offensive and rebounding skills to not see the floor on a team with 7 players.

[Patch]

McFan - Turnovers are part of being a freshman for sure in fact they're part of the game in general.

 

Sometimes it's more the type of TO than the number if the same mistake keeps recurring that can become unacceptable even with 7 or 8 guys.

 

If you add that to constantly get blown by on defense there is a problem.

 

It's foolish to believe if someone is not doing something acceptable that you should reward him with more minutes and he will get better.

 

If Todd were a freshman this year he would probably get less minutes and wind up transferring thinking that he was being handcuffed and improperly utilized.

 

Even though the team only won 5 games they were in contention in quite a few games and the other guys were busting their butts and getting better. They atleast wanted a chance to win.

[McFan]

Patch,

 

I think we agree on most points. I would differ with your choice of words "reward" him with playing time. I view it as play him to evaluate his talent. I would also say that if John Iati and Levi Levine were just a little more rested they may have been a little better down the stretch. On the other hand they are better today for being put throught the grinder last year. Also, if there was a work ethic issue than he played more than he deserved but I would not have any info on that.

 

As a comparison, B. Lillis turned the ball over twice in his first minute against Siena. I hope that he still sees plenty of minutes and is not looking over his shoulder.

 

From the stands he seemed like a good kid and I wish him well.

[coachplayznoD]

I can hold back no longer! You have to be kidding about Todd Martin being "handcuffed." To put it simply, he was awful. I think that we can ALL agree that Coach Brown has an eye for talent. He did an outstanding job recruiting for Saint Rose, brought in some of the best talent when he was at Sullivan, and his recruits at Alabany have not been too shabby (3 American East Rookie of the Years). Todd Martin could not cut it. He was not good enoug to contribute. His foot speed was slow (and that is being nice). It appeared that he had no clue what to do on the offensive end of the court. I would guess that Coach Brown had as much confidence in Martin as he had in Knotts. I feel bad for the situation that Coach Brown was in. He could on take Levi and Iati out of the game. When he needed to sub he had Martin or Knotts. I bet if you ask privately, Coach Brown would have rather put Coach Barnes in the game. That is not saying much. I saw Brian play at Catholic High in Troy. He had trouble being the 11th man on a ten man roster. You play your best players. Simply put, Todd Martin was not even close to being a servicable sub at the division one level.

[scottotile]

I hope the weather is nice on the planet Todd's father lives on.

[Dane96]

Actually Todd had 12 full ride offers, with 10 for the early signing period. Some of the Schools included were:

 

 

Minnesota

Penn State

 

 

*Took recruiting visits

 

Believe it or not, Sometimes players are handculffed.

 

 

 

Good lord. Please, I was Todd M. defender for a long time. But please, you sound like the Dad in "BIG FISH".

 

You are trying to tell me TODD chose to play at Troy State instead of the Big Ten. Let me guess, more playing time?! Are you kidding me....Penn State is one of the worst basektball teams out there. IF Todd can't crack the Top 7 or 8 in his last two years of DI ball, he was not, in my opinion, offered by Minnesota or Penn State. do you realize how silly all this sounds? Moreover, these guys didnt even give the kid an official visit, yet you expect us to believe they offered him. Come on now.

 

I hope he does well at Troy, but don't sell us a bill of goods.

 

BTW, he was never handcuffed until he proved he couldn't play the way Brown wanted him to.

[coachplayznoD]

Well Said! Todd Martin is not good enough to play at some of the high Division II colleges in America.