UNM Lobo Zane Martin left goes for a layup while being defended by San Jose State Spartan Kaison Hammonds during a Jan. 21 game at Dreamstyle Arena -The Pit. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Journal)
Zane Martin, the Lobo basketball team’s leading returning scorer for the coming season, announced Tuesday morning he is transferring out of the program.
The 6-foot-4 senior guard from Philadelphia who started 18 games last season, including all but two conference games, was set to be the team’s leading returning scorer (10.1 points per game) and was also league’s second returning leader in assist-to-turnover ratio in league games.
Martin posted on his social media accounts Tuesday morning an image with a message that read, in full:
“These past two years have been a blessing that I am beyond grateful for. I want to say thank you to everyone who has been a part of my journey in Albuquerque and throughout my time at the University of New Mexico.
“Unfortunately, due to things outside my control, it has come to a point where I have to move on. The uncertainty around sports in the State of New Mexico and the Mountain West Conference, and also my own personal physical and mental safety, have made it impossible for me to stay here. I have loved my time here but God has other plans and I will follow them.
“Thank you to all my coaches, teammates, and fans. I will never ever forget how special it was to be a Lobo and will cheer the team on from a afar as they do great things int he future. I will be entering my name in the transfer portal and finding a new school to finish my degree and college career.
“Thank you all and Go Lobos.”
Everyone be safe! #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/w77fxqw1cZ
— 0 (@ZaneMartin_0) August 11, 2020
Martin, who was forced into a point guard role for much of the past season despite having been a shooting guard previously, would have been this season’s only Lobo other than Makuach Maluach (33 starts) who started more than two games last season. The rest of the Lobo roster as currently constructed had a total of five starts for UNM last season — Keith McGee (2, though he did start 12 times in the 2018-19 season), Kurt Wegscheider (2) and Jordan Arroyo (1).
The Lobos now have just 11 of the NCAA-allowed 13 scholarship players for the coming 2020-21 season — one now hovering under a cloud of uncertainty amid ongoing coronavirus pandemic issues in general and the Mountain West Conference’s announcement on Monday to postspone fall sports due to safety concerns. While there was not a mention of delaying winter sports, signs have been pointing toward a possibility of college basketball being delayed until at least January or sometime in the spring 2021 semester.
