Lights sign star California JUCO player Zackry Martinez

The Montana State University-Northern men's basketball team has been on the recruiting trail as the Lights have announced several signings lately and their most recent may be one of their best yet.

Northern Basketball has signed one of the best players in California Community College basketball the past two seasons. A 6-2 guard, Zackry Martinez will be joining the Lights after a historic run for the Los Medanos Mustangs and long-time coach Derek Dominichelli. A Bay Valley two-time First Team All-Conference selection, Martinez averaged 16.1 points per game, 6.8 assists per game, 3.3 rebounds per game, and 1.7 steals per game. And he did so on an extraordinary 53.8-percent shooting from the three-point line, 50-percent field goal shooting overall, and 87-percent shooting from the foul line. Primarily the point guard this past season, Martinez led the Los Medanos squad to a school record percentage for wins - losses (24-6 overall). After he nailed a tough exhilarating, buzzer-beating three-pointer againts No. 8 Santa Rosa in the state playoff first round game, the No. 9 Mustangs were upended by the always powerful eventual champion, San Francisco City College Rams. Martinez is also a very good student who plans to major in business while at MSU-Northern.

"Zack is yet another high character guy who will fit in great with us. His leadership skills are exemplary. He has the true capability to direct our fine group of returners and newcomers. He can really impact us in a lot of ways as he is the rare type of player that makes everyone better at what they do, while excelling individually at the same time," MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said. "Zack scored over 1,000 points combined in his freshman and sophomore seasons. He was the second leading scorer in conference play in all California Community Colleges his freshman year (388 points in league play), averaging 23.9 points per game. Then due to excellent roster additions, he upped his assists and slightly lowered his scoring this season, to get all their other playmakers more involved. He competes at an extremely high level of efficiency with his skills, IQ, and athleticism."

Martinez is also known for his defense as he leads his team in steals and has proven shot-blocking capability both on and off the ball.

"Zack is the complete type of player that is needed at this level of basketball. He plays exceptional defense to go along with his winning basketball plays on offense," Huse said. "He can really guard and make plays both on and off the ball. We do feel he is one of our newcomers who can step right in and help with our immediate needs of experience and maturity at the guard position, following the loss of our two senior captains."

The Lights are coming off another good season, winning 19 games and earning a home playoff game vs Rocky Mountain College. After advancing, their season came to an end in a close loss at Carroll College. They return a great deal of experience from the 2021-22 team, after graduating their two exceptional seniors.