Redhawks MBB point guard Rob Martin entering transfer portal

Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball point guard Rob Martin is entering the NCAA transfer portal, he told League Ready on Sunday, Mar. 16.

One of the nation’s premier mid-major players, Martin was a 2024-25 first-team All-Ohio Valley Conference selection and one of the top candidates for Conference Player of the Year honors this past season. The star junior paced the team with 14.8 points per game and 4.5 assists per game, while also posting a team-high 82.8-percent free throw rate through all 33 games.

Martin, known for his selfless high assist rate, also led the league in total assists (147) and assist/turnover margin en route to helping propel the Redhawks to an OVC Tournament runner-up finish and the program’s first outright regular-season OVC championship in program history.

The point guard shined on the big stage too, earning OVC All-Tournament team honors after dropping a game-high 21 points against Little Rock in the semifinals and a team-high 18 against SIUE in the championship game. Martin was also remarkable down the entire stretch, averaging 19.7 points and 5.1 assists per game in the final 13 contests of the season.

"I'm going to miss Coach (Brad Korn) just bringing us up and giving us the confidence to go out there and play SEMO basketball, which we did this whole season," Martin said after the loss to SIUE in the conference title game on Saturday, Mar. 8. "It was a great season for me and the guys, and I appreciate everybody that's been there."

Should Martin not return to Cape Girardeau for the 2025-26 season, he will attend the third school of his college career after transferring from Indiana State University to SEMO in 2023.

The 2025 NCAA men's basketball transfer portal window officially opens on Monday, Mar. 24, and closes on Tuesday, Apr. 22.

What it means for SEMO:

After riding the emotional high of an all-time season, SEMO suffers one tough blow after losing its top playmaker and the engine of the team. The St. Louis product was the Redhawks’ leading scorer in back-to-back seasons and one of the most productive all-around players in the conference.

Should Martin officially transfer from SEMO, the Redhawks will lose two starters from this past season, with first-team All-OVC guard Teddy Washington Jr. (graduation) being the other. Key returners for next season include second-team All-OVC forward Brendan Terry, junior Braxton Stacker, junior Troy Cole Jr., and sophomore BJ Ward.

Despite the key loss, Korn, who was named the 2024-25 OVC Coach of the Year, has proven to recruit and develop players at a very high level in recent years, with Martin being a textbook example.