TOWSON, Md. – 2017-18 All-CAA guard Zane Martin has returned to Towson University for the 2020-21 season, the team has announced.
"I want to finish where I started," said Martin. "I missed Towson, Coach Skerry and his coaching staff. I feel like I'm coming home, this will be amazing. I can't wait to meet my teammates, go out with a bang and achieve great things; the future is bright and I'm excited."
"I'm excited to welcome Zane back to our program," said Towson head coach Pat Skerry. "He had great success for us while here and is a competitive, talented guard that can score and is a playmaker. His talents will fit in with both our returners and newcomers we have added as we pursue a CAA championship. He has certainly benefited from playing for Coach Weir's strong, tradition-rich New Mexico program and the competitive Mountain West Conference."
Martin played the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons for Towson then went to New Mexico for two years. After sitting out in 2018-19, the Philadelphia-native competed during the 2019-20 season with the Lobos and has a year left of eligibility. He will spend his final collegiate year back with the Black & Gold.
"When Zane reached out about returning, he told me how much he enjoyed his time as a student-athlete here at Towson and would love to finish his career here," said Skerry. "My staff and I look forward to him returning and the Tigers having a successful season."
Martin earned All-CAA Second Team in the 2017-18 season, averaging 19.8 points and 2.6 assists per contest, shooting 45.8% from the field and 38% from three-point range. His performance also earned him a spot on the Lou Henson Award Midseason Watch List and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 10 Second Team. His scoring average ranked third in the CAA, scoring at least 20 points in 18 contests that season.
In his two seasons with the Tigers, Martin scored a combined 815 points, off 290 field goals including 88 from beyond the arc, and dished out 118 assists. He had 15 games with double digit scoring, including five contests in a row from Jan. 11th through the 25th.
This past season with New Mexico, Martin averaged 10.1 points and 3.1 assists per game, ranking in the top-10 in Mountain West conference play in several categories: fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.86), eighth in assists per game (3.61) and ninth in steals per game (1.33). He played in 33 contests with 18 starts, starting most games during Mountain West play, earning a spot on the 2020 Mountain West Academic All-Conference Team. He helped the Lobos win 19 games, including a 15-3 home record.
In his three years playing in college, Martin has 1,148 career points, averaging 11.7 points per contest.
Season tickets for 2020-21 are on sale. For more information, interested parties may contact the Towson Athletics ticket office by visiting www.towsontigers.com, calling 1-855-TU-TIGER or emailing jbehringer@towson.edu.
