Initial Reactions to Tyrese Martin's Commitment to URI
Remember when I was excited because Daron "Fatts" Russell committed to URI? Well, Russell's former adversary, Tyrese Martin has also chosen to join Rhody MBB, as of September 13, 2017. While Russell played with "Team Philly", Martin was going to toe-to-toe with him when he played for "Raw Sports". The most noticeable trait between the two guards from Pennsylvania is that both young men just want to win. Martin's winning attitude is clear and he doesn't care who he is matching up against. Also, it cannot hurt to have experience playing alongside the 13th-best Class of 2017 recruit (according to ESPN) and University of Miami commit, Lonnie Walker.
The impression that I get from Tyrese Martin, besides the fact that he wants to win, is that he will never be the one to lose his team a game. By and large, he plays a fluent game from the shooting guard position. Accordingly, I tweeted this as soon as I heard about the commitment:
The shooting guard from WE-R1 basketball plays a classic, old man's game. In the footage below, he never once gets sped up and plays at him own pace. Against tough competition in the Atlantic 10 and in non-conference play, Martin must stay within himself again and play at his own speed. After reviewing additional game tapes of Tyrese Martin, it is evident that he can score at will when driving into the lane and he is an adept free throw shooter.
Weaknesses in Tyrese Martin's game are not apparent from first looks but there is one warning sign to be wary of (as a pessimistic Rhody MBB fan). Martin's shooting motion is not technically sound and looks a little like Michael Kidd-Gilchrist's awkward jumper. However, as long as the basketball is going in the hoop, no one will be complaining about that irregularity.
With this said, Martin is the type of guard that has enough versatility to do anything in Dan Hurley's system, which explains why Hurley and the rest of his staff were so dedicated to the Pennsylvania native. Going forward, I am excited to see how well Tyrese Martin's recruiting efforts will play out when it comes to convincing top-100 C Jermaine Harris (#85 in the Class of 2018) to join him in Kingston, RI. In addition, I think that this commitment means that guards Brendan Adams and Matthew Balanc will not both join the 2018-2019 URI men's basketball team. With that said, anything is possible on the recruiting trail and from what I have seen and heard, I think that if there is only one recruit (between Adams and Balanc) that chooses URI, he will be the right one. After all, I saw one of Rhody MBB's potential 2018 recruits on his official visit.
Don't all college basketball recruits look better when donning the blue and white colors of URI? I certainly think so.
