LOGAN — In arguably the biggest offseason win for new Aggie men’s basketball head coach Jerrod Calhoun, senior guard Ian Martinez has opted to withdraw his name from the NCAA transfer portal and return to Utah State for his final season of eligibility.
Nearly three weeks ago, Martinez put his name into the portal. At the time, the Aggies were reeling as each of their top four leaders in points, rebounds and assists were either graduating (Darius Brown) or had entered the transfer portal (Great Osobor, Mason Falslev and Martinez). Cut to now and Calhoun has convinced two of the three remaining eligible top players from last season’s NCAA Tournament team to keep donning the Aggie Blue and Fighting White.
Let’s run it back Aggie nation!! pic.twitter.com/qeySBVImme
— Ian Martinez (@IanJumaine) April 22, 2024
Martinez had a career year with the Aggies in 2023-24 thanks in part to the fact it was the biggest role he’s played on any team in his career. At his previous two stops, Utah and Maryland, the 6-foot-3 guard was a bench player averaging minutes in the mid-teens but nothing beyond that. With the Aggies, Martinez was a starter in every game after Nov. 28 (consisting of five games where he worked his way from being a sixth man to a starter) and ended up setting new career highs in virtually every category, averaging 13.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists. He earned honorable mention All-Mountain West honors, one of four Aggies to earn conference awards.
Utah State now boasts three returners from last year’s starting lineups (Martinez, Falslev and Isaac Johnson) along with Josh Uduje, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year in the Mountain West. Alongside the additions of Queens transfer Deyton Albury and Stetson transfer Aubin Gateretse, things are trending in the right direction for Aggie men’s basketball.
