Brian Martin, a former Hutchinson Community College basketball player who went on to play at Kansas and in the NBA, died Friday. He was 62.
Martin, a 6-foot-9 forward from Fort Smith, Arkansas, played one season for the Blue Dragons in 1980-81 under coach Gary Bargen. He helped lead HutchCC to a 24-8 record, including a 6-4 mark in the Jayhawk Conference to finish second. The Blue Dragons were dominant at home with a 13-3 record, went 3-5 on the road and were perfect in neutral-site contests at 8-0. That season ended with Hutchinson capturing the program’s 11th Region VI championship before falling in the NJCAA Bi-District game.
From HutchCC, Martin transferred to Kansas, where he played three seasons from 1981-84 under coaches Ted Owens and Larry Brown. He averaged 3.6 points and 3.2 rebounds as a sophomore, improving to 5.1 points and 5.1 rebounds as a senior captain during Brown’s first year. The Jayhawks won the Big Eight tournament that season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Martin was selected in the ninth round of the 1984 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers and split the 1985-86 season with Portland and Seattle. He later played six years in the Continental Basketball Association, winning a title with Tampa Bay in 1985, and also competed professionally in Belgium, Germany, Spain and Italy.
After retiring from basketball, Martin returned to Wichita in 2002 and built a career in insurance and banking while remaining active in civic and faith organizations.
A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday at Ridgepoint Church in Wichita.