BG Göttingen has put out feelers for this signing: The replacement for the injured top scorer Kamar Baldwin last played for a New Zealand club. US guard Jeremiah Martin is moving from the New Zealand Breakers, who he left in February, to the Violets in the Bundesliga. After Mitch Creek, who was signed by BG for the final phase of the season in spring 2018, Martin is now the second player to come to southern Lower Saxony from the other end of the world.
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The 25-year-old was previously active in the National Basketball League (NBL), in which Australian and New Zealand teams play together in large arenas in front of crowds of fans. He completed ten games for the Breakers this season, in which former Berlin point guard Peyton Siva was his teammate. Former club Martins was NBL champions from 2011 to 2013 and then again in 2015, and is based in the port city of Auckland on New Zealand’s North Island.
The BG newcomer, who landed in Frankfurt in the night from Wednesday to Thursday and was picked up there by a BG employee, averaged around 30 minutes per game in the ongoing NBL season to 12.3 points, 2, 8 rebounds and 3.5 assists. Because the Breakers can no longer reach the playoffs, the club was free to switch foreign players. For the American, New Zealand was the first stop outside of his homeland.
The 1.91 meter guard had previously tried to gain a foothold in the NBA. In the 2019/20 season he played a total of twelve games for the Brooklyn Nets. In the following season, the Cleveland Cavaliers made nine more NBA appearances. In between, the American was used again and again in the NBA G League for Sioux Falls Skyforce and the Long Island Nets.
During his college career at the University of Memphis, Tennessee, Martin wore the jersey for the Memphis Tigers in 124 games from 2015 to 2019. In his senior year, the 1.91-meter-tall basketball player averaged around 34 minutes on the floor, scored 19.7 points (35 percent three-pointer hit rate), got 4.3 rebounds and gave 4.4 assists.
“We had to act quickly after Kamar’s injury,” said BG head coach Roel Moors. “Jeremiah fits our profile well. Like Kamar, he can play in second and first position and has scoring qualities. He should also be a factor in defence.” The signing was made possible by the additional commitment of some BG partners.
