Women: Martins uses basketball the right way
Normally we do high school recruiting and commitment stories but the case of Lexi Martins we had to make an exception. NYCHoops.net was notified that Martins just accepted a scholarship offer that exemplifies what it means to use basketball instead of letting basketball use you.
What makes her commitment unique is that Martins is a junior at Lehigh University. Martins originally received a scholarship offer out of Irvington high school and while simultaneously playing basketball, remarkably completed her undergraduate degree in just three years. With one year of eligibility remaining, the junior received offers from Seton Hall, Fordham, George Washington, Drexel and George Mason according to her AAU coach John Reilly. Offering her a scholarship for both her 4th and a fifth year, “She will be able to get her Master’s degree," said Reilly.
Out of all the suitors, Coach John Reilly said that Martins opted to go with George Washington on Wednesday citing her reasoning to go with the school that she believed complimented her major. “She thought [George Washington] had the best Health & Science program”
While at Lehigh, the Irvington, NY native put up impressive stats both on and off the court. She was named the Corvias Patriot League Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the league's highest academic distinction, and to the Academic All-Patriot League team for the second-straight year,
Athletically, Martins was named first team All-Patriot League after leading the Mountain Hawks with 15.3 points, 13.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game during the regular season. Her 13.8 rebounds per game ranks first in all of Division I, while her 23 double-doubles are tied for second-most in the nation. Martins set a number of records this season including the Patriot League and Lehigh single-season rebounding record. She has pulled down 400 rebounds, besting the previous league record of 390 that was set in the 2003-04 season by Desire Almind of Bucknell.
Martins also set a new Patriot League single-game rebounding record at NJIT on Nov. 19 when she pulled down 23 boards. The junior recently became Lehigh's 18th 1,000-point scorer and seventh-ever member of the 1,000 point/500 rebound club. She has secured 860 rebounds throughout her career which currently ranks third on Lehigh's all-time rebounding leaders list.
Coach Reilly had nothing but admiration for his former star player saying, "Lexi used basketball the right way, to get a free education."
