‘It’s been a ride’: Tynice Martin’s career at West Virginia filled with ups and downs

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — If there had been a fast-forward button in life, Tynice Martin admits hers may have been worn out by now to help her skip through the adversity she’s faced since coming to West Virginia.

“I would have used it a lot,” she said. “I’m glad I couldn’t, because everything made me a stronger woman in the end.”

The official end does not come at 6 p.m. Saturday, as the Mountaineers (17-11, 7-10 Big 12) host TCU (21-7, 12-5) in a must-have game for WVU if it is to have any shot at making the NCAA tournament.

It is Senior Day for Martin, as well as teammate Lucky Rudd, so it is the beginning of the end to Martin’s historic collegiate career.

At some point — maybe in the upcoming Big 12 tournament — Martin will likely become just the fourth WVU women’s player to surpass 2,000 career points.

Depending on just how long the Mountaineers’ postseason runs lasts, there is an outside shot of her finishing second behind Cathy Parson on the all-time list.

Regardless of where Martin finishes, her numbers long ago solidified her college career as a success.

“It’s been great coaching her,” WVU head coach Mike Carey said. “There’s no doubt that Tynice and Lucky Rudd will always be Mountaineers. Tynice will go down as one of the top players to have ever played here.”

Martin is just as quick to mention the lows, as well as the highs during her five years in Morgantown. She has always had the ability to see the bigger picture and understands that both aspects have become a part of her journey.

She told stories on how Carey would help her navigate them all by being constantly reminded to stay at the same focused mental state, as to not let her get too excited when good thins happened or too down when adversity struck.

“You’re going to have highs and lows,” she said. “In the moment, it’s definitely harder to do it. It’s easier said than done.”

“I’ve said before, when times were tough, I thought about calling Tynice to talk to her,” Carey added. “Heck, most of the time, she would call me before I could call her and ask me how things are going. That’s the type of person she is.”

That summer of 2017, it may never be completely known how that day Martin fractured her left foot while working out with Team U.S.A. in Colorado affected the rest of her career.

Maybe Martin would already be the school’s all-time leading scorer. Maybe she would be in the WNBA now instead of celebrating Senior Day.

It forced her to sit on the sidelines for a year and to go under a surgeon’s knife two times over a six-month span.

She missed the first two games of this season after serving a suspension over the summer for a violation of team rules, forcing her to gradually work herself back into game shape.

All of it has been life lessons that Martin said forced her to grow up.

“I’m a lot stronger,” Martin said. “I feel like I’m a lot more prepared for life after college, because it’s safe to say that we’ve been spoon fed since being in college and now it’s back to reality. It’s back to making things happen on your own, growing up, being a woman instead of being the little girl who came here at 18 years old. I definitely grew a lot as a person and as a woman, especially academically and in all aspects of my life.”

West Virginia’s next two games — today against TCU and then the first game of the Big 12 tournament — will determine whether or not there is an NCAA tournament to be played in for Martin’s final season.

It wasn’t supposed to be that way. WVU began the season 13-1 with victories over national powerhouse Mississippi State, as well as Michigan State and Syracuse.

But life in the Big 12 is not always a smoothly-paved road where wins and losses are determined by rankings and statistics.

It was that way for WVU and Martin in 2017, when a middle-of-the-pack Mountaineers team rose up and surprised everyone to win the Big 12 tournament.

Her 32 points against Baylor in the title game put Martin on the national stage.

This season has been the opposite. Seemingly on pace to host a NCAA regional in mid-January, the Mountaineers are now clinging to the NCAA tournament bubble with all of their might.

That discussion barely fazes Martin, which goes back to those numerous discussions with Carey on never getting too high or low.

For now, there are games still to be played. That is what the Atlanta native can control.

The rest is left for others to discuss and determine, which is very much out of her control.

“It’s been fun,” Martin said. “I’ve met so many different coaches and players. It’s been a ride.

“Five years have been long and short. Did I think I was going to be here five years? No. Did I think that I was going to be in the top five in the scoring list? No. I didn’t think I was going to get hurt. It’s just been a lot of things that have happened that you really can’t control.”

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