Jimmies freshman Jailyn Martinson looks to assist on and off the floor
Dec. 4—The University of Jamestown women's basketball team has a local flair to it this year with four players coming from the state of North Dakota.
One of those players is freshman Jailyn Martinson, coming to the Jimmies after a successful career at Devils Lake High School. In the 2020-21 season, Martinson was named to the North Dakota Lions All Star Series Girls Class B roster.
The journey from Jimmies head coach Thad Sankey to bring Martinson in was one that took time after seeing her at a camp between her sophomore and junior years of high school, before her shot started to fall on a consistent basis leading into her senior year.
"I saw Jailyn play first at an AAU tryout that was here in Newman and she was here with one of her high school teammates. If you know anything about AAU tryouts everybody is out of shape, it's usually not pretty basketball but Jailyn just kept competing and competing," Sankey said. "When other players were tired and when other players were riding the roller coaster of how they were playing, Jailyn kept coming after it and coming after it. I thought 'wow' and she was younger then, this was really impressive to see."
Martinson is one of three players on the roster that is majoring in nursing on the roster alongside junior Macy Savela and freshman Emily Meier. Martinson was inspired to get into the field by her mother and grandmother both of whom are nurses.
"My grandma and my mom really showed me what it was like going into it. I have a lot of friends and family that are nurses and so that made me want to go into the nursing field," Martinson said. "I took a lot of nursing classes in high school to see if I would like it or be interested in it and I really like it."
The adjustment for Martinson was much the same for every first-year college student.
"Honestly, it was really hard right away. It was weird without your family here telling you what to do. Honestly planners and band, is a group thing we use for basketball that has really helped me," Martinson said. "The people here, everybody is like a family so you kind of just fit in."
The proximity to her hometown allows Martinson to go home on the weekends and get laundry done and have her family come to Jimmies home games.
Martinson's versatility on the floor makes her an asset to Sankey and his staff.
"It's always a challenge as a young player to come in and get comfortable and find their niche. What are they good at, what do we need them to do. How do those two things go together. I appreciate Jailyn's ability to bring more than one or two things when it comes to defense or her aggressive defense and ability to play two or three positions," Sankey said. "Her offensive piece of toughness and ability to score and get to the rim and do that. From a basketball perspective, she fills needs that we have on our team."
One difference between Martinson and most freshmen in college is that she has to learn how to be a college student and learn how to be a college basketball player at the same time.
"In my free time when I'm not playing basketball, I will study or be in my room doing homework, doing my study work before going to hang out with my friends," Martinson said.
