Cam Martin made a mistake during workouts a few weeks ago … and Kansas basketball coach Bill Self was there to immediately correct.
Martin, a 6-foot-9 forward transfer from Missouri Southern, hesitated when he had an opportunity to take an open three.
“He told me, ‘Don’t worry about it. Just let the ball fly,’” Martin said recently at Washburn coach Brett Ballard’s basketball camp in Topeka. “’If you’re open, then you’ve got to take the shot.’”
It’s potentially a different role than any other true big man has played for Self in his 19 seasons at KU.
Martin, at 240 pounds, will be in there mostly for his skill game. As a Division II All-America first-teamer last season, he averaged 25 points per game with help from his perimeter shooting, as he made 45% of his threes while averaging 4.8 attempts per game.
While Self has loosened restrictions when it comes to his players shooting threes in recent seasons — the 2018 team that made a Final Four was a notable example — that green-light approach hasn’t spread as much to his team’s big men.
College Basketball Reference’s Play Index has only one “forward” or “center” in its database who has attempted more than 100 threes for Self in a season: Jalen Wilson last year, and he’s widely considered a bigger guard rather than a forward.
Second place after that is Dedric Lawson’s 89 three-point attempts in 2018-19, while Marcus Morris also attempted 76 in 2010-11.
Martin, if he sticks in the rotation, could have a chance to make a run at both of those latter marks.
“As long as it’s a good shot for the team, it was a good shot for me,” Martin said of his time at Missouri Southern. “If I’m open, just shoot the ball. So I’m excited to be able to play that way again.”
Martin said KU’s coaching staff recruited him, as a super-senior, to be somebody “that could come in and make an impact right away.” Self in particular told Martin that skill-set would enable KU to play different lineups, whether that meant a two-big set with forward David McCormack or a stretch one with Martin at the 5.
A recent video showed how Martin could create problems for opposing defenses. Martin posted highlights from a summer workout session to his Twitter account, showing his ability to make threes off the dribble, from NBA range and on step-backs.
Martin said he enjoyed the feedback he received from the clips on social media.
“I think some of the fans kind of realized … I mean, I understand where they’re coming from. They see, ‘Oh, it’s a D-II guy, whatever. He’s not good,’” Martin said. “But there were a few people that I saw tweeting and stuff, ‘Hey, maybe we should take this guy serious,’ and I think that’s a good idea.”
One of the big questions for Martin will be defending. He admits he had a different role for previous coach — and former Jayhawks guard — Jeff Boschee while at Missouri Southern.
Because Martin was such a vital part of the Lions’ offense, he was mostly asked to hold his own and avoid risks on the defensive end. In some games, Boschee would even preach to him that if the guy he was defending scored 10, but he scored 30, that was an overall win for the team.
That mind-set will change at KU, where Martin shouldn’t have to worry about whistles as part of a deep Jayhawks frontcourt.
“Just being able to play more physical is gonna help me out a lot,” Martin said. “There was a lot of times in my past where I had to play less physical and just tried not to foul, and while doing that, you tend to not play defense, because you don’t want to get fouls. So I think there were times where people would say, ‘He didn’t play defense.’ But that’s part of our game plan is don’t foul.”
It’s still clear: When Martin is on the floor, he’ll be out there primarily for his offensive talents.
And those won’t show through if he isn’t firing away from deep.
“(Coach) told me in practice that he’s never going to say anything to me about shooting the ball,” Martin said. “But if I don’t shoot it and I’m open, then I better be ready to hear it.”