With the offseason officially here, it’s a good time to look back at former Tigers and see what they’re doing now. This series will mainly feature players who are still playing professional basketball overseas, and Jeremiah Martin seems like a good player to start with.
Martin signed with Memphis after starring at Mitchell High School, where he helped lead the Tigers to back-to-back TSSAA Class A state championships. During his freshman campaign under Josh Pastner, Martin played in 29 games, averaging 13.8 minutes, but he averaged only 2.7 points, 1.2 assists and shot 33 percent from the field.
As a sophomore, Martin started all 32 games, and he had a huge jump in production, averaging 10.3 points, 4.4 assists and 3.1 rebounds. He improved his shooting to 45.1 percent from the field and averaged 2.8 made three-pointers during his second season.
As a junior, the point guard averaged 18.9 points, 3.8 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals in 34.7 minutes per game. Penny Hardaway took over ahead of his senior season, and Martin was the team’s go-to option offensively.
Martin wrapped up his collegiate career with 1,625 career points, ranking 10th all-time in Tiger basketball history. He also became the first player to score 40 or more points in two games in the same season in Memphis history.
Martin went undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft, but he was signed by the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the NBA G-League. In January 2020, he signed a two-way contract with Brooklyn, and he averaged 7.1 points, two assists and 1.1 rebounds in nine games with the Nets.
Following the 2020 season, Martin signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers and appeared in nine games during the 2020-21 season.
After the 2021 season, he went overseas, and he’s spent time in New Zealand, Poland and Russia. Last season, he played for PBC Uralmash in Russia, and he averaged 18.2 points, 4.7 assists and 3.2 rebounds in 35 games.
He shot 49 percent from the field, 39.1 percent from deep and 71.9 percent from the free-throw line, and he was named the VTB United League Top Scorer.
This year, he played with Lokomotiv Kuban in Russia, and he averaged 13.9 points, 3.6 assists and 2.4 rebounds in 29 games. It appears their season is over, and it’s unclear if he will remain with Lokomotiv Kuban or in the VTB United League, where he has played the last three seasons.
At 29 years old, Martin has put together a nice professional career overseas, and the way he’s scoring, it doesn’t look like he’s slowing down anytime soon.