A former Utah Runnin’ Utes guard is coming back to the Beehive State after spending the last two seasons in the Big Ten.
Ian Martinez, who played for Utah in the 2020-21 season, signed with the Utah State Aggies, the team announced Wednesday.
New Aggies coach Danny Sprinkle has been hard at work trying to replace the slew of players who left the program via the transfer portal or graduation. Those players include Steven Ashworth, Sean Baristow and Max Shulga, all of whom started for Utah State last season.
Martinez played 25 games off the bench for the Runnin’ Utes and averaged 5.2 points and 1.9 rebounds in 15.8 minutes per game. His numbers fell in his first year at Maryland, but in 2022-23 he averaged 5.7 points and 2.5 rebounds while shooting an efficient 40.3% from the 3-point line in 17.9 minutes per game.
In two seasons at Maryland, Martinez started three of 63 games.
Martinez was a four-star recruit out of JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.