MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — On the day West Virginia women’s basketball program introduces new head coach Dawn Plitzuweit, a third player among the Mountaineers’ starting five from last season opted to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal.
Forward Esmery Martinez, who ranks fifth in program history with 25 double-doubles, announced Tuesday through social media she will leave West Virginia to transfer elsewhere ahead of her senior season.
— Esmery Martinez (@martinez_smeri) April 5, 2022
Fellow starting forward Kari Niblack and starting guard KK Deans entered the transfer portal in March. Niblack’s decision came the same day longtime head coach Mike Carey announced his retirement, while Deans’ came the week after Carey called it a career.
In Martinez, the Mountaineers lose their second-leading scorer and top rebounder who earned second-team all-Big 12 Conference honors in her final season at WVU. The 6-foot-2 native of Hato Mayor Del Ray, Dominican Republic averaged 11.3 points and 8.8 rebounds. Martinez was second on the squad with 46 steals and 27 blocks and improved her perimeter shooting to make 40 percent of her 50 3-point attempts.
She had 10 double-doubles in the most recent season, highlighted by a 22-point, 19-rebound effort in a double overtime win at Kansas State on March 2.
As a sophomore in the 2020-2021 campaign, Martinez was even more productive and earned first-team all-Big 12 honors after posting averages of 13.6 points and 11.6 rebounds, the latter of which was good for No. 11 nationally. Her 335 rebounds that season were the fifth-best single-season mark in program history and tops for any Mountaineer since Georgeann Wells’ 348 in 1986.
Martinez also had 56 steals and 32 blocks as a sophomore, while shooting nearly 50 percent from the field and better than 75 percent on free throws.
Martinez, who has two seasons of eligibility remaining, was a key contributor as a true freshman in the 2019-2020 season. She averaged 5.4 points and 6.8 rebounds over 17.5 minutes per game.