Recruiting Report: Luke Martens (2018)
Luke Martens was the second leading scorer on a state title team last year and everything he has done since has improved his status as a basketball player.
“As a basketball player I grew as a leader, being one of two starters returning I had to take a leadership role,” Luke said. “I also got much better on the defensive end of the court, I wanted to guard the best player whenever I could, to challenge myself.”
The Eagles won a state title with a balanced team around Tre Jones. Everybody played their role. Luke’s role? Defend hard, rebound, and be a consistent scoring option.
It all worked and the Eagles won their third state title in five seasons.
“This last winter season I will always remember how close we were as a team, we were all brothers,” Martens said. “I will always remember winning state with this team, and all the practices we had pushing ourselves to get better everyday.”
Martens scored in a lot of ways but he wants to be able to push his three-point percentage from a career 29-30 percent to higher. He also wants to be a threat off the bounce.
“I hope to improve on my three-point shooting, as well as my ball handling,” Martens said.
If you follow the local NHR crew on twitter you’ve seen that Luke has been hitting from the arc. He has been putting the ball down, and he has been scoring in many ways including using his physical size.
“These events have challenged me because playing 2-3 games a day can be hard on the body,” Luke explained. “I have learned to give all I have every time I step on the court. I have also learned that there is so much talent at these events, that I need to separate myself and always be the hardest working player on the court.”
Colleges love Martens and many are calling.
“For basketball I am hearing from Winona State, Sioux Falls, Minnesota State-Moorhead, St. Thomas, St. Olaf, St. John’s, and Hamline,” Martens said. “I also have an offer from Concordia University Nebraska.
“I have only visited St. Thomas, Concordia-Nebraska and also I got a tour of the University of Nebraska from one of the coaches there and got shown everything on the campus. I am want to visit Sioux Falls and Winona State some time soon.”
That said, Martens is an ever better football prospect when you look at the level of schools calling him.
“For football I am hearing from Minnesota, University of North Dakota, and a little bit from South Dakota State. I am also hearing from plenty of other schools in the NSIC and MIAC for football.”
Football, basketball, whatever. Martens should have a great senior year in both sports.
“My goals are to get into the weight room and get stronger, also to get to the gym everyday I can and work on my game,” Luke said.
“My goals for my senior season is to be a great leader for this team, and have a season like we did last year.”