A Close Look in at Hassan Martin - Rhode Island's Backbone, Rhode Island's Rock, Rhode Islan
Before I ever got to Kingston, RI as a URI student, I was interested to discover who were the stars on the URI basketball team. Going to the 2014 Rhody Madness, the team's stars were clear, E.C. Matthews, Jordan Hare, and Hassan Martin formed the nucleus, with incoming freshman studs, Jared Terrell and Jarvis Garrett. Well, if Hassan Martin dunking from just inside the free throw line didn't prove anything to me, I quickly have seen in my 3 years in Kingston that Martin can dunk, block, and shoot from anywhere on the floor (which now includes 3's). As luck would have it, one of my best friends (and guest writer on this blog), Colby Roussel is probably the number one Hassan Martin fan in the entire world.
If I tried to write about everything that Hassan Martin has accomplished in his time playing power forward for the Rhode Island Rams, this article would have no end. Instead, I will give you insight into the Hassan Martin that many fans and students may not know about simply because of naivete or unawareness. I have said time and time again that my blog and everything I write is from a perspective that no one else has because of my unique views and the fact that I literally live the basketball team and see them on a daily basis.
On the basketball court, Hassan Martin has shown that he is URI's most valuable and most important player. Anyone is free to argue otherwise but the Staten Island native means more to the Rams on both ends of the floor than anyone else in my eyes. I have never read any article or written piece that has given Martin a fitting nickname as well as I can, I think he should be called "Mr. Consistency". If #12 on the Rhody Rams is having a bad game, then it must be an extremely unlucky night, to say the least. As the biggest player in the spotlight right next to his best friend E.C. Matthews, there is a reason why I have never criticized Hassan Martin in 3 seasons of watching him work. I cannot criticize a player who shows night in and night out that he wants to win at any cost and exhibits it at every turn. Throughout this season alone, Martin has put up double-double after double-double and he has carried his team to victory more than once. If you don't think that Hassan Martin is URI's most important player, then never question again why URI always seems to lose when Martin does not play. Last season, the Rams struggled when Martin was out for an extended period of time (eventually the rest of the season) and they looked completely of sorts when he missed 6 games this season from a quad injury. When Hassan Martin is in the game and completely healthy like he is right now, expect someone to get destroyed on a Martin block and expect someone to get put on a poster. Just ask Rodney Bullock from PC, he's still recovering to this day.
Off the court, in relation to URI's power forward, I watched an Instagram live video he had up for roughly 40 minutes to a whole hour during a random Thursday night in the Fall 2016 semester and I never laughed so hard. I am not going to disclose some of what I saw or what I heard but to say the least, I was laughing throughout the video. As a person who collected shoes all throughout high school, I was close to laughing in tears when Hassan Martin when he was joking about Will Leviton (a URI walk-on) wearing his Space Jam 11's the day after they released. For those of you who do not follow sneaker collecting closely, the Air Jordan 11's are arguably the most popular line of shoes that Michael Jordan ever intended and for kids in my generation, the Space Jam 11's were the most popular pair while I was in middle school. Considering that I still have my Space 11's that were released in 2009 in near perfect (deadstock) condition because I rarely wore them and took fantastic care of them, I could not help but laugh hysterically. Besides this, another highlight of the video was Hassan Martin going into Michael Tertsea's room and sharing a joke about the quote, "I am the captain now" from the movie Captain Phillips.
In my personal experience, I have walked by Hassan Martin plenty of times on URI's Kingston campus and I never felt intimated in the slightest. That's saying a lot coming from a 5-7 male looking up at a 6-7 male. Nevertheless, the aura around Martin has to explain why the entire URI basketball team and practically the entire URI community love and adore Hassan Martin. If you are any kid in school trying to play D1 collegiate basketball in the future, I bet your elementary, middle school, or high school will show you film from they try to teach you how to play defense, especially blocking. There is a reason why the Rhody Ruckus has a board they carry to every home game called the "Hassan Swat Meter". Also, there is a reason why Jay Lurgio, URI's famous sign man has multiple signs of Hassan Martin swatting everything in his path. Finally, Hassan Martin statistically shows he can block anyone's shot. Since the 1992 season, he is currently URI's all-time leader in blocks and the Atlantic 10's fourth all-time leader in blocks with his total of 300 blocks. Do not be surprised if he gets within the top 3 for all-time leaders in blocks (since 1992) in the Atlantic 10 by the time his final season is over.
There is no more monumental and influnetial player to the Rhode Island Rams basketball team than Hassan Martin. I know several people that will legitimately shed tears when there is no more #12 at the Ryan Center next season and for good reason. Expect to see the jersey number #12 retired and hung up in the rafters of the Ryan Center, sooner rather than later.
