The Next Clemente?

MEDFORD, N.J.—Note to Patrick Harvey, Harvard’s one-man scoring machine this season: help is on the way.

After producing just one player in the past two years who has averaged ten minutes per game, the Harvard men’s basketball program has officially landed its most highly-touted recruit since Dan Clemente ’01.

Zach Martin, a 6’5 swingman from Shawnee High School in Medford, N.J., has committed to attend Harvard next fall. He comes with an impressive resume—after averaging nearly 20 points per game to lead Shawnee to a 28-3 record and a state championship last spring, Martin was ranked among the top 100 rising seniors in the country on CNNSI’s website.

A prolific scorer, Martin could bring immediate help to a Crimson offense that relied heavily on Harvey this season. The junior guard has been Harvard’s leading scorer in all but two games.

“We’ve tried to find some scoring,” Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan said of his staff’s recruiting goals this year. “I think all the guys we’ve tossed around fit that bill.”

According to several college recruiting web sites, New Mexico State, Wyoming and Princeton had all expressed interest in Martin earlier this year. Martin, though, said his final choice came down to Lafayette, Cornell and Harvard.

He made his official visit to Cambridge last fall, staying with Harvard junior Brady Merchant.

“I liked Boston a lot,” Martin said. “And I really like the coaches.”

Martin comes from a powerhouse program that has won four states titles in the last decade. Shawnee is the same school that produced Malik Allen of the NBA’s Miami Heat and the Earl brothers, Dan and Brian. Dan Earl was a star point guard for Penn State in the mid-1990s, while Brian started for the 1998 Princeton squad that finished the year ranked in the national top ten.

Despite missing part of his sophomore season with a broken foot, Martin entered this season with 1,246 career points, trailing only the Earl brothers and Allen on Shawnee’s all-time scoring list. Last year, he broke the elder Earl’s school record for points in a game when he exploded for 45.

According to Shawnee High School coach Joe Kessler, Martin was as explosive as any player he’d seen his freshman year. But he says Martin lost some of his quickness when he came back from his broken foot.

“He lost a step after that,” Kessler said. “If he hadn’t broke his leg, he’d probably be receiving offers from some mid-major Division I schools.”

After averaging nearly 18.6 points per game as a junior, Martin’s average is down to around 14 ppg this season. But Kessler says that drop has occured only because a number of other players on Shawnee’s senior-laden team has stepped up, taking some of the pressure off of Martin.

“Zach fits into our system perfectly,” Kessler said. “He’s not the fastest player or the most athletic, but he’s very talented.”

At 210 pounds, Martin has good size—“he’s a banger,” Kessler says—and can rebound well. Following his injury, Martin made a point of bulking up to compensate for his loss of foot speed, Kessler said. That has made Martin into a dominating post player at Shawnee.

Martin also has an outstanding long-range jumper, which he demonstrated in his 45-point game, hitting 6-of-10 three-point attempts.

“Coach [Sullivan] said I remind him of Dan Clemente,” Martin said, referring to Harvard’s former captain and all-time leading three-point shooter.

Kessler believes that Martin’s range was what drew the Harvard staff’s interest.

“I think Harvard saw his outside shooting,” he said. “He’s a shooter, all right. He’s got great court awareness, too.”

“The Ivy League is more about finesse,” Kessler added. “Zach will fit in very well there.”

Martin headlines a Harvard recruiting class that so far includes Sebastian Anderle, a 6’11 center from Los Angeles, and two more wing players in Michael Beal of Brooklyn, N.Y., and local product Shawn Driscoll.

Beal is the most promising player after Martin. An athletic 6’4 shooting guard, he attended the Nike All-America Basketball Camp, held last summer for 180 of the most talented high school players in the country.

Beal made his official visit together with Martin. The two attended Harvard’s game at Princeton two weeks ago.

A few other players are on Harvard’s radar screen. One is Luke Ruscoe, a 6’7 forward and under-20 New Zealand National Team member. According to rivalshoops.com, Ruscoe has narrowed his list of schools to three—James Madison, Dartmouth and Harvard.

The recruits should provide a shot in the arm for the Harvard program, which will graduate seven of its current players by next year. While not commenting on specific players, Sullivan acknowledged that it’s probable that a freshman could crack the starting lineup next year.

“You never know until you get them here, but I think there could be somebody that could [step in right away],” Sullivan said.

Martin is the likeliest candidate to get the nod.

“The coaches didn’t promise me anything,” Martin said of his chances at starting next year. “But they said that if I work hard, I’ll get a chance.”

No freshman has been a regular contributor for the Crimson since two years ago, when Elliott Prasse-Freeman, Brady Merchant, Sam Winter and Onnie Mayshak all started games.

Last year, Harvard’s only rookie was forward Kam Walton. He is no longer with the team.