Memphis Basketball: Impact of losing Jeremiah Martin for start of 2018-19 season

Last year’s leading scorer for Memphis Basketball Jeremiah Martin will miss some time this upcoming season. How will the Tigers replace his production?

Jeremiah Martin, who led the Memphis Tigers scoring last season, is currently recovering from emergency hernia surgery on Aug. 27, according to Memphis Commercial Appeal. Martin is expected to miss four-to-six weeks.

The good news is that if the prognosis is accurate, Martin will only miss a couple of weeks of official practice, which begins at the end of September, at most. But time will tell how fast he actually recovers.

Memphis does not have a game until Oct. 25 when the Tigers host DII LeMoyne-Owen on Sept. 25 for an exhibition contest. The Tigers will also host DII Chrisitan Brothers (Nov. 2) in another exhibition before beginning the regular season against Tennessee Tech in Memphis on Nov. 6.

Martin was just cleared to start offseason workouts in July. The 6-foot-3 senior point guard had been rehabbing his broken left foot, which ended his 2017-18 season on Feb. 22.

Martin had the best season of his career in 2017-18. He led the Tigers in points (510), assists (103) and steals (61). The second team All-AAC selection produced one double-double and scored in double-figures in 24 of 27 contests. Martin scored 20 or more points on 12 occasions, including two games of at least 30 points. Again East Carolina (Feb.2), he connected on 10 of 20 shots from the fields with five of those makes coming from 3-point line en route to a career-high 33 point performance.

Overall, Martin averaged 18.9 points a game, second most in the conference, 3.8 assists and 4.3 rebounds along with 2.3 steals. He shot 44.4% from the field and 32.7% from beyond the arc.

So, what if Martin misses a portion of the season?

Memphis went 21-12 overall and finished fifth in the American with a 10-8 record last season. Which includes posting a 5-2 record in the seven games that Martin missed.

The Tigers have a new coaching staff, led by first-time college head coach Penny Hardaway, and six freshman plus two other newcomers in 2018-19. But they also have five upper class-men returning as well.

Besides Martin, Kyvon Davenport was a key contributor for the Tigers a season ago.  The 6-foot-8 senior forward led the team in rebounding (6.1), blocked shots (42) and was second in scoring (13.3).  Junior college transfers Raynere Thornton and Kareem Brewton also provided valuable contributions. Brewton finished third on the team with 9.1 points a game.

If Martin is not healthy to begin the season, either true freshmen Tyler Harris, Alex Lomax or Antwan Jones alongside Brewton. Harris and Lomax, both of them are undersized hometown point guards, were consensus top-150 players in the nation as high school seniors.

Jones  is a four-star prospect ranked among the top-80 players in the 2018 class. The 6-foot-6 shooting guard led Oak Ridge (Orlando) to the Florida 9A state title this year. He is a former Texas A&M signee.

Thornton will also likely start as well as Davenport and Mike Parks in the frontcourt.  6-foot-10 junior college transfer Isaiah Maurice and the two guards (Jones, Harris or Lomax) who don’t start should see major minutes. Regardless of Martin’s health, all three freshmen guards are projected to see significant time.

Freshmen Ryan Boyce,  Jayden Hardaway —  the son of Penny — and 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Victor Enoh could factor in the rotation too. Memphis has the depth to stay afloat while Martin is out but they’ll need him if they want to make a run in the AAC.