Cody Martin, the older brother to twin Caleb Martin — by one minute — has shown great improvement in his sophomore year at NC State.
Last season, the Wolfpack acquired twins Cody and Caleb Martin from Oak Hill Academy. The brothers both showed promise in their first season with the Pack as they helped to fuel the team to a Sweet 16 appearance.
The Martins are identical twins, so, naturally, it was difficult to tell the two apart at first. Caleb wears number 14, and Cody wears number 15 — as they wore four and five in high school. After a full season of watching the two perform, a consensus formed that Caleb was a shooter. Caleb shot 30.5 percent from 3-point range and averaged 4.8 points per game while playing in every game. Cody only played in 19 of the 36 total games, averaging 3.4 points per game and missing all seven of his 3-point attempts on the season, proving he isn’t a threat from deep.
Through their second season, the brothers have shown improvement, as both have seen an increase in minutes per game. Cody averaged 11.4 minutes per game last season compared to Caleb’s 16.6. So far this season Cody has averaged 24.8 MPG, and Caleb has averaged 31. With Cody’s minutes more than doubling, he’s been able to show Wolfpack fans more of his repertoire, abilities and style of play.
When it comes to scoring, Cody is fairly versatile. He doesn’t shoot the three like his brother, scoring just 2 of 4 from deep this season, but he can make shots from anywhere inside the arc. He is also very efficient with his shot selection making him one of three players on the team shooting at or above 50 percent. He has shown the ability to dribble past his man and get to the rim for layups as well as the ability to break through the middle of zone defenses and score.
The injury to junior guard Terry Henderson has given Cody the opportunity to share some of the ball-handling responsibilities with junior guard Cat Barber. When Barber has to go to the bench for any amount of time, which has not been often, Cody becomes the primary ball handler. This is an ability that few fans knew he possessed, and he is currently second on the team in assists per game with 2.3.
Cody has added a floater to his repertoire. At times he’ll take the ball into the paint and, with T.J. Warren-like confidence, float the ball up high and watch it fall through the net. Also, Cody has developed a solid pump fake which has allowed him to freeze up his defenders and get to the rim. In all fairness, defenders may fall for his fake because they mistake him for his sharp-shooting brother Caleb, but nevertheless, it has been working for him.
Offensive rebounds have been a big story for the Pack. This season, the team has 348 with seven regular season games yet to be played. Cody is responsible for 43 of them, which is almost as many as freshman Maverick Rowan and Caleb Martin combined (both totaled more minutes than Cody).
Defense is where Martin shines the brightest. His height of 6 feet 7 inches, long wingspan and defensive instinct make him one of the best defenders on the court. Martin leads the team in steals with 27, averaging 1.1 per game. He is also tied for second in blocks with Caleb and sophomore Abdul-Malik Abu with 12 (We all know who leads in that category).
Cody’s improvements are one of the few bright spots of the 2015-2016 season. Head coach Mark Gottfried has noticed these improvements, which is why Martin has been in the starting lineup for the last seven games. If the Pack is able to turn this season around, Martin will be a big reason why.
