David Martinson paused before responding, with a hint of laughter through the phone.
“My first thought is I might be the worst high school basketball coach in this country,” Martinson said.
Martinson, the head coach at Boone High School in Orlando, Florida, was referring to a former player, one who didn’t actually play much during his time at Boone under Martinson. As a senior, the player scored 52 points total.
Fast forward four years, and that player is one of the premier mid-major guards in the country. Forget 52 points in an entire season, he scored a combined 52 points in back-to-back games late last month. He notched a triple-double last season, and he’s on the draft radar of several NBA teams.
So what happened in between for Ohio star guard Jason Preston?
“Sometimes I even play in my head, maybe I should have played him more,” Martinson said. “But God has a plan for all of us. And that was Jason’s plan.”