By: Colin Schofield
Day one of the 20th Danny Rumph Classic began with a blowout, 92-58 victory by TBB against Rumph Center, where seemingly every shot went in for TBB. Three of their players scored in double figures, led by Brooklyn Nets guard Tyrese Martin.
The 6-foot-6 guard guided TBB to an easy opening win with a flurry of buckets, strong presence on the glass and an intense competitiveness.
“It was good. It was fun,” Martin said, after a 29-point outburst. “It’s a good chance to get some cardio in and it’s a really good environment to play in.”
Martin played second fiddle to teammate Justin Jaworski for the first 10 minutes of the game, but started to showcase his NBA talents from there. Martin caught fire near the end of the first half to finish with 13 points as TBB held a 10-point lead.
Martin truly made his presence felt once the second half got underway.
He took an alley-oop and slammed it home with two hands minutes into the second half. That dunk set the tone for TBB during the next 20 minutes of action.
TBB outscored Rumph Center 50-24 in the second half and the onslaught was spearheaded by Martin. He scored 16 second-half points in a variety of different ways to lead the TBB offense.
“We were just shooting the ball, man,” Martin said. “We were making threes. The more threes you shoot, the better chance they have of going in, so that was the game plan today.”
Martin went to William Allen High School in Allentown before committing to play college basketball at Rhode Island in 2017. He played two seasons with the Rams and spent two seasons at UConn, racking up more than 1,000 career points.
His standout college career earned Martin a spot in the NBA. He spent 2022-23 with the Atlanta Hawks, then spent time in the G-League with the Iowa Wolves. Martin returned to the NBA this past season on a two-way contract with the Nets and averaged eight points per game.
Despite turning into a reliable role player in the NBA, Martin still enjoys playing in the Rumph Classic and uses it as a way to get extra reps to improve as a player.
“It’s good cardio,” Martin said. “You get to come out here, play and have fun. You get to work on different parts of the game, show different parts of the game that you might not show in the NBA.”
Martin also made sure to show his competitive side, getting into a jawing match with former Temple forward Nick Jourdain. The two went back and forth for a pair of possessions, both ending in buckets for Martin and more trash talk from the NBA guard.
“That’s how you get your name,” Martin said. “There’s no better way to go out and get your name. Make sure they put respect on your name every time you come out here. I got a standard to live up to being in the NBA, so I can’t come in here on no BS.”
Martin is now in his third year playing in the Rumph Classic and after going 0-2 with the Basketball Finders last year, he is hoping the 20th edition of the Rumph can have a more poetic ending.
“It would be tough [to win the championship],” Martin said. “It would be fire for sure, but we just have to see how the weekend goes.”