Welcome to Gator Nation, Alijah Martin! (Photo via Florida Atlantic basketball)
In the world of college athletics, there are nice additions, and then there are really nice additions. And then there are game-changing additions that can flip your team’s outlook overnight.
In the case of guard Alijah Martin, Todd Golden and the Gators achieved the latter.
The former Florida Atlantic Owl is officially set to migrate north to Gainesville as a graduate transfer following a stellar career in Boca Raton. He chose Florida over Arkansas– that’s a head-to-head win over John Calipari– as well as Alabama and Michigan, where his former coach Dusty May now coaches. That in itself makes this a monster recruiting win.
There’s a reason why so many big-time schools wanted Alijah Martin.
A key piece of the Owls’ 2023 Final Four run, Alijah Martin was given NCAA All-Tournament Team honors and nearly helped guide FAU to the national championship game. He’s a 37% three-point shooter for his career, and what’s more is that he has a knack for hitting not just a large quantity of shots, but the especially big shots. You know. The clutch shots your team has to have.
There’s so much other stuff to love about Martin, too. He’s an excellent on-ball defender– he might already be the Gators’ best defender for the 2024-25 season. Similarly, his brute strength and physicality could easily be mistaken for that of a center. And he’s clearly not that– as he stands 6’2 and 210, Todd Golden would never be caught dead using him at the 4 or the 5– but watching him play could make you think twice about that when you see the pure tenacity and athleticism he plays with. He’s that strong and gutsy.
That’s all got a lot to do with why Alijah Martin averaged 13.1 points and 5.9 rebounds a game last year. Two years ago– during the Owls’ magical Final Four run– Martin averaged 13.4 points and 5.3 boards a game. And three years ago, as a COVID sophomore, Martin chipped in 13.9 points and 5.3 rebounds a game.
On top of all that, Martin is a solid facilitator. He’s averaged an assist and a half per game over the past three seasons.
Todd Golden is probably going to use him a little differently than Dusty May did at FAU– and by differently, I mainly mean in more different ways– and with an athlete of this caliber, with this winning pedigree, and this type of statistical history, get ready. Because assuming Walter Clayton and Will Richard both return, this 2024-25 Gator basketball team is set to be the best team Florida has had since its Final Four run in 2014.
Golden has been busy in the transfer portal well before he landed Alijah Martin. He added 6’10 center Rueben Chinleyu from Washington State and 6’9 power forward Sam Alexis from Chattanooga in the past nine days– both of whom had laundry lists of offers from other Power Six teams.
Portal God Todd, indeed.
