CHRIS MARTIN OF COLORADO COLLEGE, a junior forward on the men’s basketball team, has been selected the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Character & Community Male Student-Athlete of the Week for the period beginning March 6th, 2017.
The SCAC honors the efforts of student-athletes who excel in the field of athletics, and also serve their campus and community.
A native of Albuquerque, N.M., Martin always has stood out because of his service to others, but thanks to a break-out season on the court, he is having the same effect as a member of CC’s men’s basketball team.
Martin became a team leader soon after the conclusion of his sophomore season when he was named one of three captains for the 2016-17 campaign. He responded by leading the Tigers to a tie for second place in the SCAC with a 10-4 regular-season record, which was good for the second seed in the conference tournament.
The 6-foot-5 power forward started 23 of 25 games and currently leads the team and ranks second in SCAC with a .571 field-goal percentage, leads the team and is tied for in the league averaging 6.8 rebounds per game, and ranks third on team and 27th in SCAC averaging 10 points per contest.
He posted five double-doubles this season, one of which was a 20-point, 15-rebound effort in the 80-78 overtime victory against Southwestern University.
While his contributions to the team have been enormous, his service to the community has been even more impressive.
On campus, Martin is active with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, serving as a ministry leader who plans and leads team huddles on a weekly basis. He also is a member of Revolution Ministries, which organizes outreach events and weekly church services within the Colorado College community.
Martin also works as a mentor with CC's First-Year Experience program. He was selected by the faculty to assist incoming students with their transition to college, plan events for first-year students to facilitate community building, and help freshmen and sophomores with course selection.
An economics major with a 3.34 grade-point average, Martin speaks at Taylor Elementary School on the importance of academics in succeeding athletically. At the end of the season, he will serve as a Spanish language tutor once each week at Steele Elementary as part of the college's Enseña Program.
Martin also has taken on a leadership role in both of the basketball team’s community service efforts.
He is the team’s co-liaison with Team Impact and Carter Gates, an 11-year-old Colorado Springs resident who is battling leukemia. Gates signed a 'national letter of intent' on Dec. 16, 2014, and has been a Tiger ever since.
Martin also is on the advisory board of Operation TBI Freedom, which assists service men and women returning from the Middle East with traumatic brain injuries since the conflicts began in 2001. The program, which lasts an average of two years and costs about $3,500 per client, helps wounded veterans with all facets of their lives, including medical, education, and employment.
In addition to his efforts on the board, Martin is responsible for planning events for the men's basketball team and veterans who are enrolled in the organization.
One of those events is the program’s annual salute to the veterans enrolled in the program, which occurred during halftime of the Colorado College-University of Dallas basketball game on Dec. 16. The Tigers and veterans also participate in other group activities throughout the year.
In recognition of his efforts on campus and in the community, Martin was one of 181 student-athletes nationwide nominated for the 2017 Allstate NABC Good Works Team.