Maryland guard Ian Martinez enters transfer portal
Martinez was expected to compete for a starting role next season.
Maryland guard Ian Martinez entered the transfer portal on Thursday, a team spokesperson confirmed.
Martinez played a major role for the Terps during the 2022-23 season as a junior, appearing in all 35 games and starting two. He averaged 5.7 points and 2.5 rebounds per game and led the team in three-point shooting with a 40.3% mark.
His defensive prowess and athleticism made him a commonly-used sixth man for head coach Kevin Willard, averaging the most minutes of any player not in the team’s usual starting lineup.
Martinez was a consensus four-star recruit coming out of high school and became the first Costa Rican-born player to play men’s college basketball at a major university when he enrolled at Utah as a freshman.
After that year, Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak was fired and Martinez entered the transfer portal, eventually landing at Maryland. He struggled in his first year with the Terps — averaging just 2.8 points per game — but found his footing in year two.
Martinez is the fifth player from Maryland’s 2022-23 roster to enter the transfer portal this offseason and his departure opens up a scholarship spot for the upcoming 2023-24 season.
Of the 13 scholarship players on Willard’s first team as head coach at Maryland, only six will return for his second year at the helm. In addition to the five outgoing transfers, Don Carey and Patrick Emilien exhausted their collegiate eligibility.
Four-star freshman guard DeShawn Harris-Smith is widely expected to start alongside returners Jahmir Young, Donta Scott and Julian Reese next winter, leaving one probable open starting spot for the Terps.
After a solid junior season, Martinez looked like a prime candidate to step into that role, but other candidates on the roster that may push for that spot include four-star freshman wing Jamie Kaiser Jr., Indiana transfer forward Jordan Geronimo, Loyola Marymount transfer guard Chance Stephens or a future incoming transfer.
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