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Neumann-Goretti guard Zane Martin commits to Towson

05/11/2015, 10:45pm EDT

By Ari Rosenfeld and Josh Verlin

Ari Rosenfeld (@realA_rosenfeld) &
Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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After a breakout junior season at Neumann-Goretti, combo guard Zane Martin has committed to Towson University and head coach Pat Skerry.

Martin was just offered by Towson this past Saturday following an unofficial visit to the school’s Maryland campus. That was seemingly all he needed, as he chose the Tigers over an offer from Rider and interest from a host of other mid-major programs.

For a player who a year ago wasn’t even on the Division I radar, the last thing he expected to be doing this spring was accepting a D-I scholarship.

“When they offered me, I was surprised,” Martin said. “I went to go visit, I loved the school, I loved everything about the school, I just knew it would be the right fit for me.”

He gave a lot of credit to his father, Eric Martin and his AAU coach with Team Final Black, Calvin Gilbert, for staying behind him and keeping him positive through a rough first few years of high school.

“I’m so happy, my dad, my AAU coach, my mom, they stuck in my corner, they were always there for me," he said. "(They) told me to keep working and keep pushing and that’s what I did.”

As a sophomore, Martin received just scattered playing time at Neumann, behind a backcourt that featured three Division I commitments in Ja’Quan Newton (Miami), Troy Harper (Campbell) and Lamarr Kimble (Saint Joseph’s); when he did get in the game, he admitted this season, he would press too hard to show what he could do instead of letting the game come to him.

With a move into the starting lineup as a junior he burst onto the scene this past year, averaging 16.5 points per game. That was good for second on the team and sixth in the Catholic League, on a Saints squad that won its fourth PIAA Class AAA state championship in five years.

“He was behind some seniors, Ja’Quan and Troy on the wings, it was just a tough spot for him to be in as a sophomore,” Neumann-Goretti head coach Carl Arrigale said. “But we knew, we saw it coming, I expected him to be a good player for us this year and he really took in the responsibility of being a starter and being a guy you can count on.”

Playing in Arrigale’s four-guard offense, Martin excelled taking advantage of the increased spacing and using his physical, downhill style of play to get to the rim. At 6-foot-3 and a solid 190 pounds, he finishes through contact with relative ease and is a pest on the defensive end when he is locked in.

He put an exclamation point on his big season in the PIAA Class AAA state championship game against league rival Archbishop Carroll, exploding for 26 points to lead the Saints to a 69-67 victory.

Martin will be welcomed by a familiar face when he gets to Towson next fall, as Neumann-Goretti alum John Davis will be entering his senior season when Martin arrives on campus. A tough 6-5 forward, Davis was a Third-Team All-CAA performer as a sophomore, averaging 11.8 points and 8.1 rebounds, the latter mark being the second-highest in the conference.

“That had a lot to do with it, actually, I talk to John all the time, he tells me how much he loves it, how much the coaches care about the players,” Martin said. “He really talked me through the path to committing. I’m always going to have somebody to speak to through hard times during my freshman year, so that’s part of the reason I committed there.”

Another local product, 6-7 Life Center forward Dennis Tunstall, is also a Towson signee who will begin his college career this coming fall.

Before he gets to the Maryland school's campus, Martin will first have a chance to lead Neumann-Goretti back to Hershey in hopes of another PIAA title, as well as look to help the Saints reclaim the Catholic League championship after Roman Catholic ended their string of six straight.

His coach thinks he's more than capable of the challenge.

"I think we haven't seen anything yet," Arrigale said. "I think he's going to be even better this year."