Living the dream

March 12, 2007

Reprinted from the Saratogian , March 10, 2007

By Paul Gangarossa
Dana Martin is in a pretty good place right now. The 2005 Skidmore College graduate finished a prolific career for the school's men's basketball team and did the whole Europe thing like millions of grads talk about doing but never do. He returned home after a year to find a good job for a successful company with all the family support he could ask for.

The surprise isn't that Martin is loving life right now. The surprise is that he's doing it while still playing the game he loves as a professional athlete, a dream few division III alumni ever realize.

"I think it's great," Martin said. "It's a new organization and it's great to be playing back home in front of family and friends. It's very organized from a business aspect and as a basketball team."

Martin, a 6-foot-4 guard, plays for the Vermont Frost Heaves of the American Basketball Association. Before that, he was one of the most dominant players in the Liberty League when he suited up for the Thoroughbreds. Skidmore coach John Quattrochi remembers Martin as a tireless worker who made weaknesses into strengths.

"He was playing from his first day on campus, and right away he wanted to become the best player he could be," Quattrochi said. "He was pretty good going to the basket, but not as good from outside, so he worked like crazy to develop that to be a strong point."

Martin's desire to better himself on the court was refreshing for Quattrochi, who said that type of drive is a quality that is missing from many athletes at the Division III level.

Quattrochi said his star player didn't have the look of what people think of when they conjure up thoughts of today's professional athletes. He wasn't a 'me' guy, a showboat or anything like that.

"He was such an unassuming, quiet kind of leader that you could never be jealous of him," Quattrochi said.

Martin's hard work paid huge dividends for himself and his coach. As a senior, he was named Liberty League Player of the Year, scoring 22.7 points per game in league play. His perimeter shooting—his weakness coming in—was highlighted by hitting a school record eight 3-pointers in a 77-75 win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In all facets, Martin was the straw that stirred the drink.

"Inside the five-minute mark was his time to shine," Quattrochi said. "Players understood that. He was a talented player, he could make things happen and when things weren't going good, he could make things happen then, too."

The Stowe, Vt., native spent his first year in the "real world" a world away from where he started, playing ball in Europe while keeping his dream alive. Quattrochi encouraged him to chase the dream, telling him to play as long as he wanted.

"I had an agent who got me on a travel team out there," Martin said. "I played 10 games in Germany and Austria and I got picked up in southern Bavaria."

Abroad and alone, Martin was forced to learn a new language while meeting new people, a new coach and dealing with high expectations as an American player.

"I was really missing home. It's different when you have people yelling at you in different languages. I mean, it's great to be alone, but for nine months out of the year, it's really tough. I really just wanted to keep playing.

"As [an American] basketball player, you're expected to be 'the man.' You're expected to score 20 points a night."

Martin met those expectations, however difficult, by averaging right at that 20-point mark through his time in Germany. His prowess on the court and his touch on the offensive end got him enough exposure to entertain a return home.

Now as a Frost Heave, Martin gets to play in the same gym in which he won a high school state championship for half of the team's home games. Vermont splits its games between gyms in both Barre and Burlington. Both were built to be identical in scale, but Barre is where some of Martin's fondest of memories were made as a teenager.

"Barre's crowd is more into it," Martin said. "The courts are the exactly the same, but [Barre Municipal Auditorium], that's where I played in that gym in the state title. It's a great experience. I played my junior year there and I thought I'd never get the chance to play there again. I was blown away that I got that opportunity."

The Frost Heaves are in their first season of operation and are already the best team in the league. At 27-5, they hold the best record and are doing it without a single player scoring more than 16 points per game.

For the first time, Martin is not the primary option on offense and has become a role player off the bench in his first season, a transition that he admits wasn't easy, but was made better by a roster and a coach who embraces the team concept.

"The players are great, as far as personalities; they recruited all of us just for that reason. They didn't want to bring a bunch of jerks who were going to cause trouble. They wanted to touch the community as well, so we do a lot of stuff off the court, fundraisers and things like that.

"Really, we have such a great team and I'm playing with such great players. Nobody's averaging a ton, nobody over 16 [points]. Our coach likes to sub, he likes to play everybody. It's humbling, but it's a team game."

Quattrochi isn't the least bit surprised at how his former star is handling that transition.

"He's always had a very mature attitude," he said. "He's the ultimate team player. He understands life. He understands teamwork. He's special."

The options are still out there for Martin. With the ABA season winding down, he's planning to make another run at pro ball in Europe. This time, he admits he'd prefer to be in a country that speaks English. Quattrochi's advice hasn't changed: play as long as you can.

Martin has already shown he can play. More importantly, he has shown he's willing to do whatever it takes to make his dream a reality.