Former Kansas Jayhawks basketball forward Cam Martin picks transfer destination

Former Kansas men’s basketball forward Cam Martin has chosen Boise State as his transfer destination, the Mountain West Conference school announced Tuesday.

Martin, a 6-foot-9, 230-pound senior forward from Yukon, Oklahoma, entered the transfer portal on March 20. The three-time NCAA Div. II All-American also previously played at Missouri Southern State and Jacksonville State. He has one year of college eligibility remaining.

Martin’s brother, Alex, a 6-foot-6 senior at Webb City (Missouri) High School, will join the Boise State program as a nonscholarship player, according to Bronco Nation News.

“The biggest thing for me was finding the right fit offensively and being used in a way that fits my skill set,” Cam Martin told B.J. Rains of Bronco Nation News. “You can look at the post players at Boise State and they’ve had a lot of players that have been stretch 5s and capable of shooting the basketball. You can’t say the same about Kansas. After watching some film of how I’ve played in the past and how Boise State has played in the past and how they want to use me, it looked like a no-brainer.”

Martin and his brother visited Boise State last weekend. Bronco Nation News reports the duo visited Colorado State and had also considered Clemson, Wichita State, SMU and Texas Tech.

“We just loved the city, loved the campus, everything about it,” Martin said. “I had never been to Idaho, so to get to experience that and meet the coaches in person was super big for both of us. And ultimately we just decided it was the best fit basketball-wise and school-wise.”

Martin transferred to KU two years ago. He redshirted his first season in Lawrence, then used a medical redshirt in 2022-23.

Martin transferred to KU from Missouri Southern State before the 2021-22 season. In three seasons at MSSU, he scored 2,040 points and left as the second-leading scorer in program history.

After redshirting during KU’s NCAA title season, Martin, who began his career at Jacksonville State in 2017-18, appeared to be in line for some minutes at the 5 spot his super-senior season.

However he suffered a shoulder separation at practice in late October. After intense rehab he played in his first KU game on Dec. 10 at Missouri. He played against Indiana and in two Big 12 games before re-injuring the shoulder. His last game action was four minutes on Jan. 3 at Texas Tech.

“I loved my time here (at KU), the relationships I built,” Martin told The Star in a recent interview. “My teammates are lifelong. I got my brothers. I wouldn’t change a thing how it happened. It’s unfortunate me getting hurt. I wouldn’t change it.”

Martin said “for sure” when asked if his shoulder injury might have affected his KU career in terms of making an impact in games.

“You can sit here and play the ‘what if’ game all year. I go from starting the first scrimmage and then the very next day I mess my shoulder up, get all out of rhythm. You never know what could happen,” Martin said. “When I redshirted I was hoping and working for the big role. Things just didn’t work out.”