Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Justin Martin leaves SMU, turns pro

UC-Santa Barbara v SMU

Getty Images

Getty Images

Dallas has had a couple of noteworthy sporting events over the course of the last two days, so it shouldn’t be surprising that a bit of news involving the local college team got lost in the shuffle of a Cowboy playoff game and the college football national title game.

SMU forward Justin Martin has decided to turn pro, foregoing the rest of his senior season.

“We appreciate Justin’s contributions to our team and our program,” Brown said in a statement over the weekend. “We wish him the best.”

Martin was averaging 5.7 points and 2.2 boards in 12.2 minutes for the Mustangs. He transferred into the program from Xavier, where he was a two-year starter, this season. He was immediately eligible after getting his degree with the Musketeers. He didn’t play in Thursday’s win over Memphis and this announcement came down before Sunday’s win over Central Florida.

On Monday night, SMU confirmed that assistant coach Ulric Maligi will be taking a leave from the program. Maligi is a star recruiter in Texas -- he played a major role in SMU landing McDonald’s All-American Keith Frazier and Emmanuel Mudiay, who ended up in China.

Follow @robdauster