March 2, 2010
Wednesday: TCU at Lobos, 6:30 p.m., The Pit
By Richard Stevens — Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
It might be the perfect time to re-calibrate the decibel level of The Pit to see if this special arena can reach a new standard for lung-enforced rapture.
And is the renovating Pit ready to withstand the hurricane of loving howls, the “Ro-Ro-Ro” that will boom and reverberate off the walls like the chant of a maddened army of ancient warriors?
It might be interesting to measure the teardrop level Wednesday night, too, when the usually hard-hearted denizens of The Pit embrace, honor and say goodbye to Roman Martinez. This is a tough Lobo to lose.
It will be a bittersweet farewell to an exceptional Lobo, who came to us as a man-child stolen from beneath the foolish noses of UTEP Miners and leaves us all man and all Lobo.
“You don’t always get the opportunity to coach someone like Ro,” said Lobos coach Steve Alford. “He is a special player and a special person. I can’t say enough about how much he has made the players around him better by the examples he sets in practice, in games and off the court.”
Said teammate Darington Hobson: “You see how Ro carries himself, how he treats people with such respect, and it makes you think about how you should be as a person. It’s a blessing to be around Ro and maybe the best part of that blessing is to be around Ro off the court.”
Technically, it is Senior Night in The Pit Wednesday when the TCU Horned Frogs come to visit, but really, it is “Roman Martinez Night.” The El Paso native is the lone senior on a 27-3 squad that already has carved out a record-setting season.
There have been few Lobos loved like Martinez and that isn’t simply an embrace of stats, wins and shared glory. With Martinez, there has always been that other part, that better part.
Even from the deepest rows in The Pit, you could see that this was a Lobo with pure passion and great heart, who performed at a high level of commitment simply because he knew no other way to play. The fiber of Martinez’s being simply wouldn’t accept anything less, so he gave it his all and so many benefited from the residue of this pure effort.
Of course, in Martinez’s mind, it is he who reaped the rewards.
“I feel so blessed to have been a Lobo. It`s been my privilege,” he said. “I just hope the fans see how much I love this team, this school, this city. I have tried to give my best day-in and day-out.
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“I like to think I have a good heart. I know I care about people and don’t like to let them down. I think people, Lobo fans, see that. I hope they do. I know that’s the type of Lobo I have tried to be.”
In a word, you might say Martinez has been the “perfect” Lobo and it almost didn’t happen. He grew up thinking about wearing the UTEP orange, not the Lobo red.
From Miner Roots To Lobo Jersey
The dreams of basketball that floated in young Roman Martinez’s head were visions filled with orange and Miners and the deep history of UTEP basketball formed by the legendary Don Haskins.
It was a logical dream for any kid growing up in El Paso. The Miners were his roots and the young Martinez had been pulled time and time again into the Special Events Center to watch his parents’ passion play a game entrenched in the families’ history.
Martinez a top 3-point threat |
“Oh, yeah, we were Miner fans,” said Martinez’s father, Ed Martinez. “I saw the Miners make their `66 run (NCAA champions). I liked Don Haskins’ coaching style. I think we all thought and hoped that Roman would end up a Miner.”
It almost happened. The story has a few twists, a few turns and ironically, it might have been Haskins, who planted a seed that helped push Roman north to Albuquerque.
“Don Haskins had a lot to do with it,” said Ed Martinez. The story Ed heard was that Haskins told then-UTEP coach Doc Sadler that, unless a coach was certain a local kid could play and contribute, that there was a lot of pressure on both the player and the coach.
The Martinez’s weren’t sure Sadler was sold on Roman. A plane trip to a club tourney in Las Vegas, Nev., only made the family more uncertain about UTEP as a home for Roman.
“There was a seat next to me and Sadler comes down the aisle,” said Ed. “He takes the seat, doesn’t know me. Roman was playing with the New Mexico Force. I mentioned the Miners and we started talking about the Vegas tourney. He asked Roman, `You going to watch?’ Roman said, `No, I’m going to play.’
“Sadler was going to Vegas to watch Casey Cunningham (Cibola High). He didn’t even know who Roman was and he (Roman) was in their back yard. That left a bad taste in our mouth.”
Naturally, Martinez had a great tourney in Vegas, scored 37 in one game and the coaches came calling — including Sadler. It was too late. Roman already had been charmed — by The Pit, by Albuquerque, by Lobos.
Lobos Locate Diamond in El Paso Rough
Duane Broussard knew there was a special player in El Paso, who had been flying under the pinpoint radar of college scouts. The kid wasn’t real tall at 6-foot-6. He wasn’t a leaper or a dunker. But he was all-around solid, a baller, a team player, smart, savvy on the court, made good grades.
“We really felt he fit our style of play,” said Broussard, Alford’s Director of Basketball Operations and former assistant to ex-Lobo coach Ritchie McKay. “He was a team guy, unselfish, smart. We even liked the fact he had a Hispanic name. It was a no-brainer to go after him.”
The Lobos went after Martinez hard and when a few other schools finally noticed this diamond in the El Paso rough, it was pretty much too late.
UTEP finally offered a scholarship, but the Martinez family wasn’t convinced it wasn’t a “token” scholarship thrown at the local kid. Reggie Theus, then at New Mexico State, strolled in with a fancy suit and some fancy talk, but the Martinez’s didn’t necessarily like the style of Aggie ball.
Senior Roman Martinez |
Roman scratched out a list of five schools to visit officially (school pays expenses) and crossed four schools off the list after the first visit.
“New Mexico treated him right. He felt wanted,” said Ed Martinez. “He called me and said, `Dad, I love it here.` He called off his other visits.”
Said Broussard: “We knew Roman was hurt by UTEP’s lack of interest and then he saw how much we wanted him. He has been an amazing Lobo and he is on an amazing run.”
The Lobo Lefty Is Also A Righty
El Paso is similar to Albuquerque. It is a basketball town before it is a football town, but the throne in this desert city might be shared by soccer.
Martinez played soccer. It was in that game that Ed Martinez noticed something about his right-handed boy. He had a good left side, a good left foot. That right-handed boy was, and is, Roman.
“I don’t think too many Lobos know that Roman is right-handed,” said Ed. “He eats with his right hand. He shoots pool with his right hand. He used his right hand long before he used his left hand.”
It wasn’t basketball that turned Martinez into a lefty. Actually, it was T-ball. Ed said his son was placed in front of a wall and was told to catch the ball. He caught it with his left hand, so the glove went on the right hand. Roman threw with his left hand. Later, hanging out with dad in city-league ball, Roman shot with his left hand.
“I decided not to change him,” said Ed.
School Work First, Hoops Second
Roman Martinez is the grandson of a Mexican basketball star. His grandfather, Francisco Martinez, helped Mexico secure a bronze medal in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
Francisco also was a NMSU Aggie. In some ways, the Aggies were Roman’s second choice behind UTEP.
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Even from the deepest rows in The Pit, you could see that this was a Lobo with pure passion and great heart, who performed at a high level of commitment simply because he knew no other way to play. |
It didn’t work out. But “work” and “work ethic” were things introduced to Roman at an early age. The family rule was schoolwork first, fun and games second.
“His mom (Pam) is the architect of the family,” said Ed Martinez. “Her and her father have always been adamant about the importance of school and education. She instilled the consistency of discipline and work ethic in all our kids.
“Roman is not afraid to work in the classroom or on the court.”
Martinez definitely is a Lobo poster boy for the term student-athlete
He was named to ESPN the Magazine’s Academic All-America Team for 2009-10 — UNM’s first selection in 35 years.
The UNM co-captain is only the third Lobo to reach 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 150 3-pointers in a career. He should be a four-year Academic All-MWC selection. He was accepted into the UNM Anderson School of Management a year ago. He has a 3.5 GPA.
On the court, Martinez has won on every floor in the Mountain West. He nailed that final road win Saturday at Brigham Young.
“That one was special. That one I’ll remember a long time,” said Martinez. “But we still have some unfinished business.”
Lobo Steak About To Get Pit’s Sizzle
Roman is known for being clutch. He hits the big 3-pointer, makes the big steal, keeps a ball alive. You appreciate Martinez more if you have seen him play for four years. You know what to look for. You know what to appreciate.
His father says this was Roman’s style long before he became a Lobo, but it didn’t always bring Roman the attention he might have deserved.
“Roman has always been in the undercurrent,” said Ed Martinez. “That`s been his career. He is the steak and people are fascinated by the sizzle.”
There probably is some truth in that. But in The Pit, in the Lobo huddle, the meat-and-potatoes Martinez is appreciated on a high level.
“We know how important the things are that he does,” said Dairese Gary, another meat-and-potatoes Lobo. “Ro is everything. He does everything.”
Said Hobson: “Ro does all the extra things. He doesn’t take a possession off and he doesn’t take time off in practice either. You watch how Ro plays and you know you are letting yourself and your teammates down, if you don’t try to match it.
“I mean this sincerely. He might be the nicest guy I’ve ever met in my life.”
The Pit seems to have noticed that, too, and Wednesday night it will explode. It will explode for the Lobos, who should grab the upright Mountain West title with a win over TCU.
It will explode for “Ro” because the characteristics of this team that probably have led to the title, to a 27-3 record, to national rankings, to the NCAA tourney, have more to do with steak than with sizzle.
“I’m on a great journey and it’s going to be an incredible atmosphere against TCU,” said Martinez. “But my focus is on TCU. This isn’t about me.”
Well, maybe not at first, but at the end it will be Roman Martinez Night. And The Pit will be sizzling for him.
Editor’s Note: Richard Stevens is the former Associate Sports Editor and sports columnist for The Albuquerque Tribune. You can reach him at rstevens50@comcast.net.