Martinez is the first Costa Rican to play major Division I college basketball.
The flight from Costa Rica to California, which meant leaving the only place he’d ever called home, felt like an eternity to 15-year-old Ian Martinez. He didn’t know when he’d see his parents or younger sister again. He barely knew enough English to get by. He’d be living with his 17-year-old brother and a host family of complete strangers.
Martinez, now 21 years old, remembers crying himself to sleep on the plane as it left the airport.