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MAR.
9 — Goshen Adds Inside Presence With Martin
Leafs
begin off-season with signing of 6-7 post player |
Whiteland, IN — Just a few weeks off
its second consecutive 20-win season, the Goshen College men’s basketball
program wasted no time in beginning its recruiting efforts for
2005-2006, signing Whiteland High School senior Josh Martin to a letter
of intent,
the school announced Wednesday.
Martin, a 6-7 220-pound post player, averaged 17.8 points per
game and 9.7 rebounds per game this season at Whiteland. He connected
on 61.4 percent of his shots, and was named to all-conference
and all-area awards as a result of his play. Currently, Martin
is a top candidate for
2004-2005 Johnson County Player of the Year, an award to be named
in the upcoming weeks. The accolades might have been more plentiful
for Martin
coming into his final year of prep play, but a season-ending
knee injury just two games into his junior year forced him to
miss the remainder of
his team’s competitions. As evident by his performances this season,
Martin has since made a full recovery from a torn ACL
in his right knee.
With the graduation of Goshen’s two senior post players approaching
in May — 6-8 Paul Kopanski and 6-6 Troy Springer are the only players
to depart from the Leafs this year — Goshen head coach Stan Daugherty
knew the importance of finding a player to help fill the void inside.
“We are very excited to have Josh coming to Goshen College to
play basketball,” Daugherty said. “His
best basketball is ahead of him as he gets stronger and learns
the game at the college level. He will give us an inside presence
on defense and
will provide scoring from various positions on the court. We
expect him to become one of our best rebounders and screeners
over the next four
years.”
Martin not only brings a large frame with the ability to step
out to three-point range, but an incredible ability in the classroom
as well. Martin currently ranks sixth in his senior class of
212 students at Whiteland, and has maintained a GPA of 4.33 throughout
his
four years
of high school. His academic performance should help bolster
Goshen’s
team GPA of 3.45 this season, the highest average the team has
recorded in four years under Daugherty.
“Josh is an outstanding student-athlete who will fit in well with
our program,” Daugherty said. “His academics and character
exemplify the type of student-athlete that we want at Goshen.
He will make a positive impact in many areas here over the next few years.”
Martin said he plans to study physics once on campus, and is
eager to being his collegiate career. Martin helped Whiteland to an 8-13
record this season, after his team won just three games without him in
the lineup the year prior.
“I really liked the atmosphere with both the team and the campus
when I visited Goshen,” Martin said. “Coach Daugherty seems
to be one of the most positive people I’ve been around, and I just
kind of fell in love. Hopefully I can bring a strong post presence
that other teams will have difficulty going against. I have to get stronger
and continue to work on my offensive moves, but I am really excited.
Playing
at the next level is something that I am really looking forward
to.”
Goshen finished the 2004-2005 campaign with a 21-11 overall record
and a third-place finish in the Mid-Central Conference, tops in school
history. Check back to this website for continual off-season team information,
including recruiting news and team announcements. To contact Coach Daugherty,
call him at (574) 535-7493 or click here to send him an email.
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  Josh
Martin
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