Feb. 26, 2002
Cullowhee, N.C. -
Western Carolina guard Kevin Martin was tabbed All-Southern Conference and named to the SoCon All-Freshman team, as selected by the league's coaches. The all-conference team is comprised of the top 10 players, while the freshman team is the league's top five rookies.
Martin is the first Catamount to be named All-Southern Conference by the league's coaches since Bobby Phillips earned first team honors in 1998. WCU senior Cory Largent was a second team all-conference pick last season by the media. Martin becomes the 18th Catamount to earn All-Freshman honors, joining current teammates Casey Rogers and Rans Brempong.
Martin (Zanesville, Ohio/Zanesville) currently ranks 10th in the NCAA in scoring with a 22.3 average. He is second in the SoCon in scoring and second-leading freshman scorer in the nation behind VMI's Jason Conley, who was also a double honoree today. Martin also led all freshmen in field goal percentage (.481), which ranked 12th overall. Martin additionally was fourth in the Socon in free throw percentage (.834) and fifth in steals (1.89).
Martin was the only Catamount to start all 27 of Western's games this season. He led Western in scoring 20 times. He scored 20-plus points in 15 games, including five games of 30-or-more points. Martin was named Southern Conference Player of the Week for games played from Dec. 3 through Dec. 9. He led Western Carolina to a 79-69 win at Florida State on Dec. 8, scoring a game-high 19 points against the Seminoles on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and hitting 2-of-4 from 3-point range. He also registered his first career double-double with 10 rebounds. Two days prior, he scored 30 points in a 104-102 double overtime loss at Stetson on Dec. 6. For the week, Martin averaged 24.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, shot 88 percent from the line and averaged three steals per game.
In Western's four overtime games this season, Martin hit a shot to force extra time in all four. At Stetson, he hit a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left to tie the game and send it to a second overtime. Versus The Citadel, he drained a 3-pointer as time expired to force the first overtime. At Davidson, he hit a 3-pointer as time expired to force overtime. He went on to score all seven of Western's points in the extra frame to lead the Cats to the upset victory. Lastly, he hit a 3-pointer late to give Western its only lead versus VMI, only to have the Keydets' Radee Skipworth hit a late jumper to force overtime.
Western Carolina, seeded fourth out of the SoCon North, will face Furman, the third seed out of the SoCon South, in the first round of the 2002 Southern Conference Championship. The Catamounts and Paladins will meet on Thursday (Feb. 28) at 6:00 pm in the North Charleston Coliseum.
2002 Coaches All-Southern Conference Men's Basketball Team
Jeff Bolton, College of Charleston
Chris Pearson, Davidson
Dimeco Childress, East Tennessee State
Zakee Wadood, East Tennessee State
Guilherme Da Luz, Furman
Sean Peterson, Georgia Southern
Courtney Eldridge, UNC Greensboro
David Schuck, UNC Greensboro
Jason Conley, VMI
Kevin Martin, Western Carolina
2002 Coaches Southern Conference Men's All-Freshman Basketball Team
Tony Mitchell, College of Charleston
Tiras Wade, East Tennessee State
Terry Williams, Georgia Southern
Jason Conley, VMI
Kevin Martin, Western Carolina
Justin Stephens, Wofford
