MORGANTOWN — The boxing gloves still reside in Tynice Martin’s locker.
A year ago at this time, they were used to get out a ton of frustrations.
Now, they are there as a sort of reminder of what Martin went through to get healthy enough to play basketball again.
“I still may want to hit something from time to time,” the West Virginia star guard jokes.
There are literally hundreds of questions Martin could be asked this preseason, none more pertinent than how her injured left foot feels.
That one she can answer.
“There still is a little soreness, but it’s something I’m just going to have to get used to,” said Martin, who will open her season at 7 p.m. today against Coppin State at the Coliseum. “It’s an injury. It’s one of those things that will probably be with me the rest of my life. I just have to deal with it is all.”
She used those gloves a year ago to learn to box, while her West Virginia teammates practiced.
It was the most physical activity she was permitted to do last season, as she recovered from a fractured foot that required two surgeries — one to insert a metal plate and screws into the foot and a second to take them out.
A year later, Martin is medically cleared and she is again part of a program that has high expectations heading into the 2018-’19 season.
How high? Well, that’s another question for Martin and the answer depends on how quickly she can return to her old ways.
When healthy, she was the MVP of the 2017 Big 12 tournament. She scored 32 points to lead the Mountaineers past second-ranked Baylor in the championship game.
“We won’t really know how good she’s going to be until we get to a point where we can push her,” WVU head coach Mike Carey said. “Right now [in the preseason], we’re taking it slow and letting her build her body back up and those kinds of things.
“Once we get into the season, I think we’ll have a better grasp of what she can do.”
There are other questions, too. Most of them center around the potential of the Mountaineers or about Martin’s professional future.
To Martin, those are wait-and-see questions, although she is focused on helping West Virginia reach new heights as a program this season.
Since the women’s NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams, the Mountaineers have yet to advance past the second round.
In 2017, after knocking off Baylor, the Mountaineers got bracketed in fourth-ranked Maryland’s region and had to face the Terrapins on their home floor in an 83-56 loss in the second round.
Coming up short again isn’t an option this season.
“I feel excited. One, because I’m back. Two, because of the people around me,” Martin said. “We haven’t had as many scorers as we do this year. We have great chemistry and a great bond. I really taste a Sweet 16 or an Elite Eight this year.”
Making that kind of step would likely require the Mountaineers challenging both Baylor and Texas at the top of the Big 12 and finishing as one of the top 16 teams in the country.
The top 16 teams host first- and second-round games of the NCAA tournament, something the Mountaineers have never done.
All of those accomplishments Martin hopes to check off this season, but they are down the road.
Up first is getting back into game shape and becoming a leader for this WVU team that is looking to take advantage of better depth and athleticism by pressuring teams full-court and trying to make opponents run their offense with less time on the shot clock.
It is a faster-pace of play Carey wants to unveil.
With a healthy Martin, the return of starters Naomi Davenport and Katrina Pardee, as well as getting Michigan transfer Kysre Gondrezick eligible after sitting out last season, the Mountaineers seem to have the personnel in place to make it work.
That is, depending on just how much of an impact Martin can make.
“It’s an up and down process for me,” Martin said. “I’m still going through certain things and feeling different ways about things.
“I think once I get out there and we start playing for real, that’s when I’ll know for sure. That’s the moment I’ve been waiting on for a long time.”
Twitter @bigjax3211
