During a time where good news is certainly a rarity, the Sun Devil basketball team and its fans can truly rejoice knowing that the last piece of the puzzle which should make up the most talented and anticipated ASU squads in years has now been put in place.
Just over four months ago since entering his name into the NBA draft, senior point guard Remy Martin decided to return to Arizona State. Coming of a junior campaign where he led his team, as well as ranking second in the conference, averaging 19.1 points per game, there is simply no way one can overstate the significance of last year’s first-team All-Pac 12 selection reassuming his floor general duties in Tempe
The ascension of Martin has been impressive ever since he set foot at ASU, and the legacy he can potentially leave behind after he has exhausted his eligibility in Tempe is one that very few Sun Devils could rival.
As a freshman in a senior-heavy guard squad of Shannon Evans, Tra Holder, and Kodi Justice, one that founded the ‘Guard U’ nickname, a virtual trademark for a free-styling offense playing at a break-neck pace, the 6-0 Martin had no problems establishing himself. His consistent spark off the bench earned him the Pac-12 Co-Sixth Man of the Year award as a newcomer.
With the departure of that trio, Martin effectively grabbed the reigns snd led the Pac-12 averaging 6.2 assists in conference play, which along with 12.9 points and 3.0 rebounds, averages for the entire season placed him on the All-Pac-12 second-team. He was instrumental in a second-place Pac-12 finish for ASU and back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths.
This past 2019-20 season was one that some expected to be a struggle for the Sun Devils, losing Luguentz Dort and Zylan Cheatham, both currently on NBA rosters, and having the overall conference talent take a significant leap forward compared to the previous year.
Nonetheless, Martin stepped up to the plate averaging a career-best 19.1 points and recording seven consecutive 20-point performances, which is the longest streak in ASU history since Eddie House recorded this feat in eight straight contests during the 1999-2000 season.
Martin, who notched two Pac-12 Player of the Week awards, led Arizona State to a third-place finish in the league and if Selection Sunday would have come to fruition Arizona State was a virtual consensus to make the field of 68 teams and be part of March Madness for the third straight year, a feat last seen in Tempe in the early ’60s.
The return of Martin is set to place him on some All-American preseason lists, as well as make him the prohibitive favorite for the Pac-12 Player of Year award let alone have him as a repeat first-team All-Pac 12 honoree.
To date, Martin has averaged 13.8 points and 4.0 assists over his ASU career, scoring 1.314 points and dishing out 381 assists. Even a pedestrian 2020-21 season should still place Martin among the school's Top-3 all-time assists leaders and Top-5 scorers. These are achievements that all but a guarantee to have his jersey up hanging up in the rafters of Desert Financial Arena.
Many college basketball experts have place ASU in their preseason Top-25 rankings, and even Top-15 predictions have been fairly common as well. These projections were naturally contingent on the return of Martin and Alonzo Verge for that matter. Verge, the returning Pac-12 Sixth Man of Year honoree, took his name out of the NBA draft on July 18th.
ASU landed a pair of five-star prospects in guard Joshua Christopher and forward Marcus Bagley, who, along with upperclassmen Kimani Lawrence and Taeshon Cherry, form a team that will undoubtedly be mentioned as a Pac-12 title contender.
For three years, Martin captivated a Tempe fan base starving for relevancy. His flopping hair, unmatched energy, admirable leadership, Tasmanian-devil-like defense and off-balance jumpers that always seemed to take the breath out of a building then inject it with life. All of it. He was revered.
Earlier in the year, Martin and his father, Sam, attended a Friday night ASU baseball game. The night prior, Martin had 11 points and five assists in ASU’s upset of then-No. 14 Oregon. The Sun Devils had won six-straight. They were arguably the hottest team in the country, and Martin was kerosene that kept them burning.
A little while later, he and Sam left their seats and exited the stadium. Sam was nearly always in front, stopping almost every 10 feet as fan after fan either asked for a picture with Martin or shook his hand or just told him how great he and the Sun Devils were playing.
And all of them expected they had another year to watch him. For the last few months, that sentiment was put in serious doubt, but today it became a sweet reality for an adoring fan base exhaling in relief.
Back in January -- right before ASU beat Arizona, back when their chances for an NCAA Tournament seemed bleak -- Martin was asked if he had thought about the draft given his success. Granted, he was entitled to change his mind eventually. Yet, his response that day speaks volumes as to one of the reasons as to why he decided to come back for his last go-around with Bobby Hurley’s team.
“No. Not at all,” Martin responded. “I don’t think, personally, myself, that I’ve done enough to be able to even think about that. I’m based off of wins. I love to win. I don’t think I’ve been winning enough as I wanted to. All I can do is do my best on the court. My main priority is to win, and I haven’t been winning, so that’s never a thought.”
This unfinished business quest of Martin can now be realized.
Jordan Kaye contributed to this article.
