Following the departure of head coach Dusty May, the FAU basketball program was hit hard by a transfer portal exodus of some of their biggest stars. Center Vladislav Goldin will be following May to Michigan, while Nick Boyd heads west to join Brian Dutcher’s squad at San Diego State. Johnell Davis, perhaps the biggest prize left in the transfer portal, has yet to make a decision on where he’ll be playing next season. And today Alijah Martin, one of the Owls most important and accomplished players over the past couple of seasons, has announced that he’ll be staying in-state, deciding to join the Florida Gators ahead of the 2024-25 season.
“I wanted to stay in the South to play in the SEC, the strongest conference in America,” Martin told Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com. “I wanted a chance to be a primary ball handler and compete for a national title at a program known for NBA talent and developing players for the next level.”
Martin certainly has the skill, and the body, to eventually play at the next level. While at Florida Atlantic, the 6’2″ combo guard was a three-time all-conference selection, and he was a member of the All-Tournament Team during FAU’s run to the Final Four in 2023. As a high schooler, Martin was also a three-star dual-threat quarterback who received scholarship offers from the likes of UAB, Tulane and Southern Mississippi, among others. But given his success on the hardwood at FAU, it seems fair to say that Martin made the right choice pursuing basketball.
Martin’s basketball pursuit will now take him to Gainesville, where under Todd Golden, who in his second year as head coach led a high-scoring Florida Gators to the NCAA Tournament, he feels he’ll have a chance to continue to grow as a player and develop into a legitimate NBA prospect.
“I’ve paid attention to what Coach Golden and his staff have done for other guards who have transferred to their system, and I love the idea of playing with the type of players they have,” Martin said. “Florida plays at a fast pace just like the NBA. It was obvious that they can help me reach my NBA dreams better than any program. I’m pumped to be a part of Gator Nation.”
Alijah Martin will be joining Walter Clayton in the Gators backcourt. Clayton, who averaged a team high 17.6 points per game last season, will be heading into his senior season with the Gators after spending his first two years at Iona.
Martin is the third player in the transfer portal to decide he’d be going to Gainesville next season, joining Sam Alexis (Chattanooga) and Rueben Chinyelu (Washington State), a duo that should alleviate any concerns about Florida’s frontcourt depth. Alexis is a 6’9″ junior who averaged 10.8 points, 9.1 rebounds and a league-leading 2.1 blocks per game for the Mocs last season, earning a Southern Conference All-Defensive Team nod, on top of being named a 3rd Team All-Southern Conference performer. Chinyelu is a sophomore only played 13 minutes per game for the Cougars during his freshman season, but he was still fourth in the Pac-12 in total blocks despite his limited minutes.
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