Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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would be unlikely." The forward earned the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Rockne Student-Athlete Award for the third consecutive year in April. The 6-8, 236-pound native of Union- ville, Conn., also received the Captains' Award on top of his third Big East Scholar Athlete of the Year honor — the first-ever three-time recipient of one of the league's top awards. A two-time Fighting Irish captain, Abro- maitis earned his undergraduate degree in finance with a 3.73 grade-point average in May 2010 from the Mendoza College of Business in three years. He completed a one-year MBA program and graduated in May 2011. Abromaitis was a third-team All-Big East selection in 2011 and earned a spot on the honorable mention team in 2010. He was an all-conference first-team pick in the preseason this past fall. He averaged 15.2 points and a career-best 6.2 rebounds during the 2010-11 and was a driving force in Notre Dame's 27-7 overall record and second-place finish in the league (14-4). He appeared in 83 career games (62 starts) and finished with 1,137 points (13.7 per game). "I was a little bit prepared for the news, have a better idea in a week or so. "I didn't see it ending this way if you would have asked me last summer or in the fall, but I really can't complain about the experience I've had at Notre Dame. A lot of people have helped me out a ton. I'm definitely thankful for all that." The NCAA notified Notre Dame on May 11 that Martin was cleared for a sixth season. Already a top 25 preseason pick, the Irish have their "glue guy," according to Brey, to lead a starting rotation that returns intact next season and will be bolstered by a talented trio of incoming freshman forwards in Cameron Biedscheid, Zach Au- guste and Austin Burgett, and Michigan State transfer Garrick Sherman (a junior center). Notre Dame was optimistic that Martin's but it's not really what I wanted to hear," Abromaitis said. "At least I know now. I can kind of look forward and move on. Rehab is still the No. 1 priority because I'm not going anywhere in my basketball career until I'm healthy. From here I'll try to sign with an agent hopefully by the end of next week or sometime soon, see what they want me to do for training and everything like that for workouts this summer and get back to playing. I'm not really sure what the immediate plans are, but I think I'll circumstances were enough to favorably sway the NCAA. Martin played his fresh- man year at Purdue and then transferred to Notre Dame in June 2008 while his father was treated for eye cancer. The swingman said the move to Notre Dame was in part to be closer to family in his hometown of Val- paraiso, Ind., and be able to help transport his father to Chicago for treatment while he sat out a year. Before his sophomore year at Notre Dame in 2009-10, he tore his ACL and sat out the entire season. In 2010-11, Martin averaged 9.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game for a team that posted 27 victories. With Abromaitis out this past winter, Martin averaged 9.5 points and 5.7 re- bounds per game in helping lead the Irish to a 22-12 record. "It was definitely an anxious time, and it took a little while, but I think we got the right answer," Martin said. "We were JUNE/JULY 2012 96