Martin Changes Mind Again and Will Go to UCLA

Six months to the day after he signed a letter of intent to attend UCLA, point guard Darrick Martin from St. Anthony High School in Long Beach announced Wednesday that he will play for the Bruin basketball team rather than transfer.

“I think it’s the best situation for me right now,” said Martin, the Southern Section 5-A player of the year who is regarded by many as the best prep point guard in the country. “I looked at my options and felt going to UCLA would be the best move.”

Was he swayed by the reality of having to sit out a year if he transferred, even with a release from UCLA?

“Somewhat,” he said.

Bruin Coach Jim Harrick will take him.

“We’ve been talking every five hours for about a month,” said Harrick, who got the news Monday night. “It’s been a relentless pursuit of the Martins, but I’m glad it worked out this way. . . . It was probably longer than I anticipated, but good things are worth waiting for.”

Martin and his father, Jesse, refused all along to explain why they wanted out of the letter of intent. Their discontent with the UCLA athletic department became public April 11, the day before Harrick was named to replace Walt Hazzard, and at the time was described as irreversible.

Their attempts to be released included everything from trying to have the letter declared invalid, which failed, and asking UCLA officials for an unconditional release.

Why the change of heart?

“There’s nothing I could point out that convinced me,” Darrick said. “After talking it over with my parents, I just felt it would be the best place for me.”

Martin’s decision ends a major part of what has already been a hectic off-season for Harrick, and it is also the second bit of positive news since he replaced Hazzard. The first came three weeks ago, when Simi Valley High School center Don MacLean, the Southern Section 4-A player of the year, signed with UCLA.

The team is still not settled, however. Dre Lamoureaux, a 6-foot 9-inch center from Los Alamitos, is undecided whether he will go to UCLA, with which he signed, or to a junior college, where he has a better chance of playing.

Lamoureaux’s scholarship takes on added importance with Brian Williams, the Maryland center who has announced plans to transfer, looming as a possibility. UCLA was restricted to four new scholarships for the 1988-89 season because of National Collegiate Athletic Assn. sanctions instigated by the Sean Higgins investigation last year, and those have been given to Martin, MacLean, Lamoureaux and Darrin Dafney of Los Angeles Fremont High School. So, unless Lamoureaux bows out, any additional player who comes will have to be a walk-on.

Williams, still in College Park, Md., with finals, hasn’t contacted UCLA yet. The Bruins may take the initiative. “Probably in due time,” Harrick said. “But I don’t want to comment on that. This is Darrick Martin’s day.”

Later Wednesday night, Williams said it’s now 50-50 he will stay at Maryland, which means chances are improving for the Terrapins. His feelings about leaving have steadily shifted from “definitely” to “there’s always a possibility of reconsidering” to this.