By Bill Koch
I’ve never told this story publicly before because I thought people might think I was being self-serving. But since this is my blog and I can do what I want with it, I’m going to tell it now and let the chips fall where they may.
Back in 2013, I was a member of the selection committee for UC’s James P. Kelly Athletics Hall of Fame. During one of our meetings, I asked if Kenyon Martin was in the Hall and was told that he was not. I found that very odd. I mean, the guy’s jersey No. 4 had been retired and had been hanging on the wall at Fifth Third Arena ever since he left for the NBA in 2000. How, then, was he not in the Hall of Fame?
I was told the reason was because when Bob Huggins was fired in 2005, Martin - the national Player of the Year in 2000 - said that he no longer wanted to have anything to do with the university and requested that his number be taken down.
Some of the committee members were afraid that if Martin were selected he would refuse to show up for the induction dinner and his absence would make the school look bad. I argued that even if Martin refused to come, he still belonged in the Hall, and the fact that he wasn’t in it made the school look even worse.
Someone suggested that perhaps they could ask Huggins or then-UC coach Mick Cronin, who was an assistant coach at UC when Martin played there, to encourage Martin to come to the dinner.
Martin was voted in. As far as I know, he didn't need any coaxing to attend the dinner.
“It’s definitely a great honor,” Martin said when I called him for a story while I was working at the Enquirer. “I’m definitely coming in. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Not only did Martin attend the dinner. So did Huggins.
“I love the guy,” Huggins said. “Kenyon is a very special guy. We got extremely close. The relationship we had over the years is an awesome relationship.”
Martin averaged 18.9 points, 9.7 points and 3.5 blocked shots as a senior in 1999-2000 and was a consensus All-American on a UC team that was ranked No. 1 in the country for 21 weeks.
When I talked to him, he hadn’t changed his opinion of the way Huggins’ tenure at UC ended, but he had altered his stance regarding his relationship with the school.
“From talking to Huggs and realizing the way it went down,” Martin said, “it wasn’t a grudge for me to hold over things that were out of my control. I just didn’t agree with the way (UC president Nancy Zimpher) handled him per se, giving him an ultimatum after everything he did for the university and what he did for that program. That wasn’t right in my eyes.
“But it was a heated time. When I sat down and really thought about it in a more adult fashion I realized that I helped mold that program, so for me not to be affiliated with it, it was a passionate thought, but it wasn’t feasible. You have to put hard feelings aside. It took a couple of years, but I’m over it now. I’m more mature and wiser.”
Martin was forced to sit out during the fall quarter of his freshman year because he hadn’t achieved the test scores the NCAA required for him to play as a freshman. He learned on his 19th birthday – on Dec. 30, 1996 – while the Bearcats were playing in a tournament in Puerto Rico, that he had been cleared to play the rest of the season. Until then, he had struggled with homesickness and the frustration of not being able to play.
I remember trying to interview him during that fall quarter when he was ineligible. I could barely get him to put a few sentences together. It was clear that he was struggling in his new surroundings.
He showed few signs of becoming a dominant player early in his career, but he improved every year until he blossomed as a senior after leading Team USA to a gold medal in the World University Games the previous summer when he averaged 13.9 points and 6.6 rebounds.
“I figured if I could do that on that team, the next season was going to be a breeze,” he said. “All I had to do was keep working. And I did.”
Martin was the central figure in one of the most crushing moments in UC basketball history when he broke his right leg on March 9, 2000 while setting a screen against Saint Louis in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament in Memphis, dashing the Bearcats’ hopes of winning their first national championship since 1962.
“The broken leg wasn’t the issue,” Martin said. “I broke all the ligaments in my ankle. That was the thing. It was devastating. When it happened, I knew something was seriously wrong right away. I knew it wasn’t just a regular sprain. The only thing that was going through my head was, ‘Not now, not now. We came too far. We’ve been through all this and I worked so hard and grew up to where I was. This can’t be happening. Not now.’”
With Martin sitting on the bench wearing a protective boot, the Bearcats were eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year, losing to Tulsa after beating North Carolina-Wilmington in the first round.
Despite his injury, the New Jersey Nets made Martin the first overall selection in the NBA draft that summer. He played 15 seasons in the NBA.
It all started when Martin arrived on the UC campus in 1996, shy and unsure of himself, with no inkling of the great success that awaited him. His retired No. 4 still overlooks the court in Fifth Third Arena. Eight years have passed since assumed his rightful place in the Hall of Fame.
What a shame it would have been if he had been excluded because of some things he said in the heat of the moment when the coach who was instrumental in getting him to the NBA was fired.
“UC was my life,” Martin said. “It turned me into a man first and foremost.”
I’ve never told this story publicly before because I thought people might think I was being self-serving. But since this is my blog and I can do what I want with it, I’m going to tell it now and let the chips fall where they may.
Back in 2013, I was a member of the selection committee for UC’s James P. Kelly Athletics Hall of Fame. During one of our meetings, I asked if Kenyon Martin was in the Hall and was told that he was not. I found that very odd. I mean, the guy’s jersey No. 4 had been retired and had been hanging on the wall at Fifth Third Arena ever since he left for the NBA in 2000. How, then, was he not in the Hall of Fame?
I was told the reason was because when Bob Huggins was fired in 2005, Martin - the national Player of the Year in 2000 - said that he no longer wanted to have anything to do with the university and requested that his number be taken down.
Some of the committee members were afraid that if Martin were selected he would refuse to show up for the induction dinner and his absence would make the school look bad. I argued that even if Martin refused to come, he still belonged in the Hall, and the fact that he wasn’t in it made the school look even worse.
Someone suggested that perhaps they could ask Huggins or then-UC coach Mick Cronin, who was an assistant coach at UC when Martin played there, to encourage Martin to come to the dinner.
Martin was voted in. As far as I know, he didn't need any coaxing to attend the dinner.
“It’s definitely a great honor,” Martin said when I called him for a story while I was working at the Enquirer. “I’m definitely coming in. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Not only did Martin attend the dinner. So did Huggins.
“I love the guy,” Huggins said. “Kenyon is a very special guy. We got extremely close. The relationship we had over the years is an awesome relationship.”
Martin averaged 18.9 points, 9.7 points and 3.5 blocked shots as a senior in 1999-2000 and was a consensus All-American on a UC team that was ranked No. 1 in the country for 21 weeks.
When I talked to him, he hadn’t changed his opinion of the way Huggins’ tenure at UC ended, but he had altered his stance regarding his relationship with the school.
“From talking to Huggs and realizing the way it went down,” Martin said, “it wasn’t a grudge for me to hold over things that were out of my control. I just didn’t agree with the way (UC president Nancy Zimpher) handled him per se, giving him an ultimatum after everything he did for the university and what he did for that program. That wasn’t right in my eyes.
“But it was a heated time. When I sat down and really thought about it in a more adult fashion I realized that I helped mold that program, so for me not to be affiliated with it, it was a passionate thought, but it wasn’t feasible. You have to put hard feelings aside. It took a couple of years, but I’m over it now. I’m more mature and wiser.”
Martin was forced to sit out during the fall quarter of his freshman year because he hadn’t achieved the test scores the NCAA required for him to play as a freshman. He learned on his 19th birthday – on Dec. 30, 1996 – while the Bearcats were playing in a tournament in Puerto Rico, that he had been cleared to play the rest of the season. Until then, he had struggled with homesickness and the frustration of not being able to play.
I remember trying to interview him during that fall quarter when he was ineligible. I could barely get him to put a few sentences together. It was clear that he was struggling in his new surroundings.
He showed few signs of becoming a dominant player early in his career, but he improved every year until he blossomed as a senior after leading Team USA to a gold medal in the World University Games the previous summer when he averaged 13.9 points and 6.6 rebounds.
“I figured if I could do that on that team, the next season was going to be a breeze,” he said. “All I had to do was keep working. And I did.”
Martin was the central figure in one of the most crushing moments in UC basketball history when he broke his right leg on March 9, 2000 while setting a screen against Saint Louis in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament in Memphis, dashing the Bearcats’ hopes of winning their first national championship since 1962.
“The broken leg wasn’t the issue,” Martin said. “I broke all the ligaments in my ankle. That was the thing. It was devastating. When it happened, I knew something was seriously wrong right away. I knew it wasn’t just a regular sprain. The only thing that was going through my head was, ‘Not now, not now. We came too far. We’ve been through all this and I worked so hard and grew up to where I was. This can’t be happening. Not now.’”
With Martin sitting on the bench wearing a protective boot, the Bearcats were eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year, losing to Tulsa after beating North Carolina-Wilmington in the first round.
Despite his injury, the New Jersey Nets made Martin the first overall selection in the NBA draft that summer. He played 15 seasons in the NBA.
It all started when Martin arrived on the UC campus in 1996, shy and unsure of himself, with no inkling of the great success that awaited him. His retired No. 4 still overlooks the court in Fifth Third Arena. Eight years have passed since assumed his rightful place in the Hall of Fame.
What a shame it would have been if he had been excluded because of some things he said in the heat of the moment when the coach who was instrumental in getting him to the NBA was fired.
“UC was my life,” Martin said. “It turned me into a man first and foremost.”
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