Brent Martin : Player of the Week : Martin Rises to Height of Expectations

Brent Martin

Fountain Valley High

Position: Forward

Height, Weight, Class: 6-7, 200, Sr.

Last Week: Scored 39 points against Huntington Beach.

Season: Averages 19.5 points and 8 rebounds a game. 53% from the floor, 67% from the line.

Brent Martin is tall, but he never played basketball or even thought about it until one day in seventh grade when a physical education teacher spotted him and chased him down a hallway.

“Do you play basketball?” the teacher asked Martin, who was 6-foot, 3-inches then.

“No,” Martin answered. The teacher stared up and asked: “Well, do you want to?”

Martin refused, but that wasn’t the end. The teacher persisted and Martin eventually agreed.

“He sweet-talked me into playing,” Martin said. “He’d say things like, ‘You have a lot of potential.’ ‘You have all this height, why waste it?’ ”

He hasn’t. Now 6-7, Martin is a forward for Fountain Valley High School, averaging 19.5 points a game.

Last Friday night he broke the school’s single-game scoring record with 39 points in the Barons’ 73-57 victory over Huntington Beach. The former school record, set by forward Roger Holmes in 1977, was 36.

In Friday’s game, Martin was 13 of 17 from the field and 13 of 15 from the free-throw line. He also had 10 rebounds. For his performance he was named Times’ Player of the Week.

“I was ready to play that night,” Martin said. “Huntington Beach doesn’t have a very tall team. They weren’t a threat to block my shots, so when the shots were there, I went ahead and took them. I had no idea how many points I had until the coach told me after the game in the locker room.”

Coach Dave Brown said he didn’t know how many points his senior forward had until after the game, either. With 1:57 left, Brown sent in a substitute for Martin.

“I didn’t realize that (Martin had set the record),” Brown said. “Or I would’ve left him in there.

“He has a nice shooting touch,” Brown said. “And he drives pretty well. He’s a good offensive player.”

Martin plays both the post position and runs the lane on fast breaks. This double duty, combined with Martin’s quickness and accurate shooting, has made Martin one of the Baron’s highest scorers and most recruited players.

“I’ve got a whole moving box full of letters from colleges,” Martin said. “But letters don’t mean much. I haven’t decided where I want to go. Instead, I work hard and just concentrate on my game right now.”

Said Glenn Gordon, a 6-4 forward and center who has played with Martin since seventh grade at Gisler Elementary School: “He’s playing really well now. He’s probably the best player on the team. He’s been working hard for four years, working with shooting coaches and practicing all the time.

“In seventh grade, he had to learn all the basics. He had never played basketball before in his life, so he had to learn everything. But he was so tall, he immediately became the star of the team.”

Four years and four inches later, things haven’t changed for Martin.