Perhaps one of the more exciting Kansas basketball additions this offseason, point guard transfer Remy Martin likely has a starting five spot in his sights.
At Arizona State, Martin averaged a lethal 19.1 points per game and was a driving offensive force for the Sun Devils, starting in all 23 games of the 2020-21 schedule.
Filling in the shoes of former Jayhawk point guard Marcus Garrett, Martin will be a new kind of player for Kansas this season on the floor. While Garrett was most effective on the defensive side, Martin will be exercising his well-developed shot.
The three-time All Pac-12 athlete’s support will be a major plus for head coach Bill Self offensively, especially if we see some of his clutch shooting down the stretch.
Martin will be accompanied by returning guards Jalen Wilson and Ochai Agbaji, who both recently withdrew their names from the NBA Draft pool. Combining their experience with Martin’s, Kansas has a reliable set of guards to lean on.
Their support will need to extend more significantly to the three-point line, an area this team struggled with last season. Expect a battle from the perimeter between Agbaji and Martin, as both guards are arguably the best shooters behind the arc.
While having veteran talent is crucial to any program, someone like Martin may also provide a quality experience to guard transfer Joseph Yesufu and incoming freshman Bobby Pettiford and Kyle Cuffe Jr.
These two could be making contributions out of the gate up top, along with returning sophomore Dajuan Harris, a confident young guard who made a solid impression his freshman year.
At the moment, it’s safe to assume Martin will be taking on a leadership role at Kansas this year. He’s been around the game for a while now and has the potential to make one final spark on the college scene before jumping to the pros.
Assuming Martin starts when November rolls around, we’ll get some early impressions of how he’ll mesh with the returning roster.
Dependent on his health, he very well may become an integral part of this starting lineup, which is the best-case scenario for Kansas when looking to make a deep run in March.