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The recruitment process is different for every athlete. For Jamarious Martin, it was a long and tough process. Now, Jamarious has found his home for the next four years. 

Martin will continue playing basketball at Auburn University at Montgomery. Martin was already continuing his education at AUM, and now he will also be joining the basketball team as a walk on. 

“I was in touch with the coach, and I had been struggling with my recruiting process, but I knew I wanted to go to college anyway,” Martin said. “It ended up working out …” 

Martin had been in contact with Head Coach Michael Cheaney throughout the summer. After Martin decided to attend AUM to continue his education, Cheaney contacted him about walking on with the basketball team. 

Cheaney had Martin’s high school film. Therefore, Martin did not have to do any sort of tryout to join the team. 

Martin has played basketball his whole life, and it was hard for him to imagine going to college without playing basketball. Though the recruitment process was tough for him, Martin never lost sight of his goal. 

“It was tough, but I didn’t give up,” Martin said. “If I gave up, then I wouldn’t be ready to be in this position that I am now. I stayed ready, I stayed working.” 

Martin had better than good enough grades to continue his education without playing basketball. 

However, that just was not his goal. Martin stayed persistent throughout the summer. He constantly stayed in contact with coaches, and made sure his skills were noticed. 

“I felt like it was something I needed to keep me going because basketball helped me,” Martin said. “It made school easy for me. My whole high school career, I played sports. Just going to school without playing sports, I felt like it was going to be different.” 

Playing basketball at the next level had always been Martin’s dream. Martin had considered going the JUCO route before deciding to attend AUM. His dream of playing basketball was a key motivator to keep his grades up in high school. 

“I feel like as a kid I always wanted to play college basketball,” Martin said. “I was so focused on getting a scholarship, and playing college basketball.” 

Although he did not get a scholarship to play basketball, his grades did help him be able to become a walk on. Martin knows he has a lot to prove going into his freshman year with Aum. 

“I’ve got a lot to prove,” Martin said. “I mean obviously I want to be put on scholarship, but they don’t just hand those out. You’ve got to work for that. I don’t want anything to be given to me. I feel like it’s my job to work for that.” 

Martin has already built a good relationship with the coaching staff at AUM. On Sunday, he got the first opportunity to get in the gym with his new teammates and begin to work towards the upcoming season. 

AUM is a little over an hour away from Martin’s Valley, Martin’s hometown. However, the campus has already felt like a welcoming place for him. 

“Everything’s just so straight forward,” Martin said. “They’re open with everything. They’re going to let you know what position you need to be in to succeed. They’re going to let you know if you’re wrong. Their ultimate goal is to help you get to the end goal, to graduating.” 

Martin is planning to study exercise science in college. After college, Martin is hoping to stay around the game of basketball as a coach. 

“After not getting a scholarship, at first just thinking I was just going to college, I still wanted to try to be around basketball as much as I could,” Martin said. 

Basketball is the game that Martin loves, and he wants to be around the sport for the rest of his life. 

Going into his freshman year as a freshman, Martin knows that the playing time might not come right away. However, he is going to stay ready for when his opportunity comes. 

“I feel like I can impact this program by just coming in with a level head,” Martin said. “I know I’m a freshman. I just want to learn as much as I can, so that when I get to be an upperclassman I can be able to run the team like I did in high school.”