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In this post I'll lay out why I think USC should make snagging Ian Martinez from the transfer portal a top priority.
The reason for this post is that -- on social media and various message boards -- there has been speculation about what USC should do with its two open scholarships -- now that KJ Allen has moved on to Texas Tech and the NCAA elected not to impose any further scholarship reductions upon USC. Obviously, this is a highly unique year where there remain over 1,000 targets in the transfer portal.
Various USC fans have mentioned, and often advocated for, targeting any of the following: James Akinjo, Arizona/Georgetown; Daejon Davis, Stanford; Darrion Trammell of Seattle U/CCSF; Marcus Williams, Wyoming; Marcus Carr, Minnestoa/Pitt; and Adam Miller, Illinois.
I should also add that I've been told from the most reliable of sources that Andy would like to add a true PG, and that a combo or true off guard is not necessarily a priority, given the addition of Boogie and Reese Waters and Malik Thomas expected to contribute next season.
What's more, it should be noted that, of the above-named targets, only Darrion Trammell has been publicly linked to USC.
Against this backdrop, I'll make my case for Ian Martinez, not only due to him as an individual target, but also in comparison to other names mentioned.
Along those lines, it probably makes sense to start with the two Pac-12 starting point guards who have recently entered the portion: James Akinjo and Daejon Davis:
Akinjo earned All-Conference honors this season for Arizona, after Akinjo got hot in mid January and the Wildcats went 8-6 over their final 14 games. That performance wasn't enough for Sean Miller to keep his job; but it was enough for Akinjo to be named All-Conference, following on his 44% shooting from behind the arc and his near 6 assists per game. My chief concern with Akinjo is that he is an extremely ball-dominant lead guard who is highly inefficient inside the arc: shooting only 35.7% in conference play and -41.1 in points above media (which is absolutely terrible) on 2-point jumpers, even during his hot stretch to end the season. What's more, while Zona played much better defense when Akinjo was on the court, Zona's offense wasn't really any better when Akinjo was on the court compared to when he was often, actually putting up better efficiency numbers and rebounding better, if turning the ball over more, when Akinjo was on the bench. The bottom line, to me, is that USC doesn't really need such a ball dominant point guard right now, particularly one who is lacking efficiency except when he shoots 3s.
Daejon seems to have been in college forever at this point; who can forget his three-quarter's court shot to beat USC? After that hugely impressive freshman season (52% eFG%, 10.7ppg, 4.8 apg), Davis stagnated, and possibly even regressed. He had shown issue with his high turnover rate, which has only modestly improved over the years as his usage has gone down/ And then this season Davis ran into issue with Stanford's coaching staff and basically found himself on the bench. It has been mentioned that Davis began to struggle as he was moved off the point in favor of Tyrell Terry, Bryce Wills and finally Michael O'Connell. Davis is a true point .... in some ways even more than Akinjo ... lacking a head coach who believes him to be a true point. My guess is that Davis so wore out his welcome with Jarod Haase that Andy won't have much interest. Besides, Daejon returning to Seattle to play for the Huskies (where he was once committed) makes more sense.
I will only briefly address Marcus Carr and Adam Miller, because there is almost no indication USC is involved with either. Carr is a high volume scorer from the point position, who is inefficient from behind the arc. Like Akinjo, he is now looking for this third program and perhaps the destination that will appreciate his style of basketball. Also like Akinjo, he's highly inefficient as a 2-point jump shooter and didn't really make his team better on offense when he was in the game. Also like Akinjo, he's a stronger free throw shooter, who's able to get to the line quite a bit. Unlike Akinjo, Carr is not a strong 3-point shooter. Where Carr does excel is in the transition game, and his abilty to score at the rim. Carr is probably a really strong fit for certain programs, but it's unclear to me whether USC really needs a volume scorer who struggles shooting jumpers. Miller is not a lead guard, but instead a volume scorer from the wing; in Big Ten play he took nearly three shots from behind the arc for every one inside the arc -- shooting inefficiently from both inside and outside the arc. To me, Miller is a lesser version of Ian Martinez.
The two lower Mid Major options, Marcus Williams and Darrion Trammel, are both intriguing, and I have a feeling the SC coaches are looking very closely at both. Williams is a well-build, grinding type point guard in the mold of Payton Pritchard. Williams can play lead guard or off the ball, and was efficient from both spots. Unlike Akinjo and Carr, Williams' team was decidedly better on offense when he was on the court. Williams is not yet a plus defender, which would be an issue at SC, having to guard Pac-12 level points. It's also unclear if Williams, who is from the Dallas area, would really be looking at Southern California as a destination. Trammell is basically a 5'9" version of Tahj Eaddy. Indeed, watching Trammell play, one can't help but reminded of Eaddy's style and body movement. However, height is a serious issue for Trammell, and it makes a difference with his efficiency with a 47.6% eFG% (compared to Williams's 51.6%). Like Williams, Trammell's team is much better on offense when's on the court, but he's also not a plus defender. Trammell also had a high turnover ratio. Given his inefficient shooting and turnover issues, and his height, I am not convinced that Trammell is a legitimate Pac-12 level starting point guard.
All of this brings us to Ian Martinez. A few disclaimers on Ian first: one, Ian is not a natural point guard, though he was playing 1-position for Utah quite a bit to end the season; two, the shadow cast by Ian's father Henry will remain an issue until Ian chooses a destination (will it be demanded that Henry is on staff as he was in Salt Lake?); and third, Ian played fewer than 400 minutes this season for Utah, and really didn't get going until the final month of the season. But in that last month, Wow! In his final 10 games for the Utes, Ian averaged 8.2 ppg on 57.7% shooting from the field, including 43.8% from behind the arc, and 88% from the free throw line. Ian was also one of the few players in college basketball who is efficient in jump shooting both from beyond and inside the act. (Note that jump shots from inside the arc tend to be the least efficient shots in basketball.) Finally, Ian was a HUGE plus on both sides of the ball when he was on the court versus on the bench, with Utah scoring 0.14 points per possession more, and giving up 0.16 points per possession less, when he was on the court (versus on the bench).
What does Ian not do well? He's not a natural point guard. But it's unclear to me that SC really needs a natural point with Boogie and Drew already poised for major minutes. What it really needs is a guy who can score from the perimeter with high efficiency, like Tahj did; and that's Ian.
The reason for this post is that -- on social media and various message boards -- there has been speculation about what USC should do with its two open scholarships -- now that KJ Allen has moved on to Texas Tech and the NCAA elected not to impose any further scholarship reductions upon USC. Obviously, this is a highly unique year where there remain over 1,000 targets in the transfer portal.
Various USC fans have mentioned, and often advocated for, targeting any of the following: James Akinjo, Arizona/Georgetown; Daejon Davis, Stanford; Darrion Trammell of Seattle U/CCSF; Marcus Williams, Wyoming; Marcus Carr, Minnestoa/Pitt; and Adam Miller, Illinois.
I should also add that I've been told from the most reliable of sources that Andy would like to add a true PG, and that a combo or true off guard is not necessarily a priority, given the addition of Boogie and Reese Waters and Malik Thomas expected to contribute next season.
What's more, it should be noted that, of the above-named targets, only Darrion Trammell has been publicly linked to USC.
Against this backdrop, I'll make my case for Ian Martinez, not only due to him as an individual target, but also in comparison to other names mentioned.
Along those lines, it probably makes sense to start with the two Pac-12 starting point guards who have recently entered the portion: James Akinjo and Daejon Davis:
Akinjo earned All-Conference honors this season for Arizona, after Akinjo got hot in mid January and the Wildcats went 8-6 over their final 14 games. That performance wasn't enough for Sean Miller to keep his job; but it was enough for Akinjo to be named All-Conference, following on his 44% shooting from behind the arc and his near 6 assists per game. My chief concern with Akinjo is that he is an extremely ball-dominant lead guard who is highly inefficient inside the arc: shooting only 35.7% in conference play and -41.1 in points above media (which is absolutely terrible) on 2-point jumpers, even during his hot stretch to end the season. What's more, while Zona played much better defense when Akinjo was on the court, Zona's offense wasn't really any better when Akinjo was on the court compared to when he was often, actually putting up better efficiency numbers and rebounding better, if turning the ball over more, when Akinjo was on the bench. The bottom line, to me, is that USC doesn't really need such a ball dominant point guard right now, particularly one who is lacking efficiency except when he shoots 3s.
Daejon seems to have been in college forever at this point; who can forget his three-quarter's court shot to beat USC? After that hugely impressive freshman season (52% eFG%, 10.7ppg, 4.8 apg), Davis stagnated, and possibly even regressed. He had shown issue with his high turnover rate, which has only modestly improved over the years as his usage has gone down/ And then this season Davis ran into issue with Stanford's coaching staff and basically found himself on the bench. It has been mentioned that Davis began to struggle as he was moved off the point in favor of Tyrell Terry, Bryce Wills and finally Michael O'Connell. Davis is a true point .... in some ways even more than Akinjo ... lacking a head coach who believes him to be a true point. My guess is that Davis so wore out his welcome with Jarod Haase that Andy won't have much interest. Besides, Daejon returning to Seattle to play for the Huskies (where he was once committed) makes more sense.
I will only briefly address Marcus Carr and Adam Miller, because there is almost no indication USC is involved with either. Carr is a high volume scorer from the point position, who is inefficient from behind the arc. Like Akinjo, he is now looking for this third program and perhaps the destination that will appreciate his style of basketball. Also like Akinjo, he's highly inefficient as a 2-point jump shooter and didn't really make his team better on offense when he was in the game. Also like Akinjo, he's a stronger free throw shooter, who's able to get to the line quite a bit. Unlike Akinjo, Carr is not a strong 3-point shooter. Where Carr does excel is in the transition game, and his abilty to score at the rim. Carr is probably a really strong fit for certain programs, but it's unclear to me whether USC really needs a volume scorer who struggles shooting jumpers. Miller is not a lead guard, but instead a volume scorer from the wing; in Big Ten play he took nearly three shots from behind the arc for every one inside the arc -- shooting inefficiently from both inside and outside the arc. To me, Miller is a lesser version of Ian Martinez.
The two lower Mid Major options, Marcus Williams and Darrion Trammel, are both intriguing, and I have a feeling the SC coaches are looking very closely at both. Williams is a well-build, grinding type point guard in the mold of Payton Pritchard. Williams can play lead guard or off the ball, and was efficient from both spots. Unlike Akinjo and Carr, Williams' team was decidedly better on offense when he was on the court. Williams is not yet a plus defender, which would be an issue at SC, having to guard Pac-12 level points. It's also unclear if Williams, who is from the Dallas area, would really be looking at Southern California as a destination. Trammell is basically a 5'9" version of Tahj Eaddy. Indeed, watching Trammell play, one can't help but reminded of Eaddy's style and body movement. However, height is a serious issue for Trammell, and it makes a difference with his efficiency with a 47.6% eFG% (compared to Williams's 51.6%). Like Williams, Trammell's team is much better on offense when's on the court, but he's also not a plus defender. Trammell also had a high turnover ratio. Given his inefficient shooting and turnover issues, and his height, I am not convinced that Trammell is a legitimate Pac-12 level starting point guard.
All of this brings us to Ian Martinez. A few disclaimers on Ian first: one, Ian is not a natural point guard, though he was playing 1-position for Utah quite a bit to end the season; two, the shadow cast by Ian's father Henry will remain an issue until Ian chooses a destination (will it be demanded that Henry is on staff as he was in Salt Lake?); and third, Ian played fewer than 400 minutes this season for Utah, and really didn't get going until the final month of the season. But in that last month, Wow! In his final 10 games for the Utes, Ian averaged 8.2 ppg on 57.7% shooting from the field, including 43.8% from behind the arc, and 88% from the free throw line. Ian was also one of the few players in college basketball who is efficient in jump shooting both from beyond and inside the act. (Note that jump shots from inside the arc tend to be the least efficient shots in basketball.) Finally, Ian was a HUGE plus on both sides of the ball when he was on the court versus on the bench, with Utah scoring 0.14 points per possession more, and giving up 0.16 points per possession less, when he was on the court (versus on the bench).
What does Ian not do well? He's not a natural point guard. But it's unclear to me that SC really needs a natural point with Boogie and Drew already poised for major minutes. What it really needs is a guy who can score from the perimeter with high efficiency, like Tahj did; and that's Ian.
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