KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In a certain sense, anyway, University of Kansas guard Remy Martin was born about two years too soon in 1998.
"I've always told him, had you been born later, your name would have been Maximus," his father, Sam, said.
As in the character played by Russell Crowe in the movie "Gladiator." Which is part of why "the most surreal moment of this whole thing" to Sam Martin, the one that engulfed the retired Los Angeles police officer in chills, was the one that cascaded through the United Center on Sunday after KU had clobbered Miami 76-50 in the men's NCAA Tournament Elite Eight round to advance to the Final Four.
When the crowd started chanting, "Remy, Remy, Remy" after his son had been named most outstanding player of the Midwest Regional to help catapult KU into the national semifinals against Villanova on Saturday in New Orleans, his mind went right to a scene in the movie.
"When you play basketball, I always tell him that one line that the slavemaster told Maximus: 'Win the crowd,'" he said.
Wow, you tell him, and he laughs and adds, "So now you get it? Those were exactly my words when I heard them chanting: Wow, wow!"
The wow factor harkens to another natural Gladiator reference when it comes to Martin:
Utterly divergent context notwithstanding, Maximus' cry of "are you not entertained?" radiates from Martin's infectiously exuberant play.
Not to mention how he can cue a crowd to get loud, as he did late in the first half on Friday against Providence in a game marked by his own 7-0 burst for KU in his first moments in the game.
Good thing, Remy Martin reckoned the next day, that there was a response to his call.
"It would be awkward if they didn't," he said, smiling.
Of all he's infused into this team since his late-season materialization back from an afterthought because of a knee injury and an erratic adjustment to KU coach Bill Self's demands after Martin's four years at Arizona State, animating this group has been as vital as anything else since.
"He likes to put on a show; sometimes that's to the detriment of himself," his father said, laughing and adding that he recognizes that tendency at times can drive a coach crazy.
For a team that even Self will tell you needed personality, that element has been a catalyst nearly as much as Martin's ability to create shots (his own and for others) and typically inflict mayhem on the opponent with his speed and savvy and, now, with his defense.
"I think he changes our team completely when he comes in the game," KU forward Jalen Wilson said. "With him being super aggressive like we want him to be and super confident and him just being him and playing the game that he knows how to play, it changes the complete aspect of who we are.
"We're able to be so much faster. The energy he brings with the excitement, getting the crowd involved, those little things that we were missing, takes our team to another level."
A level, it turns out, that KU most likely wouldn't have attained without Martin.
That notion would have seemed obvious before the season, when the two-time first-team All-Pac 12 guard was ranked the fifth-best transfer in the nation by CBSsports.com.
But it would have seemed silly even a month ago.
Certainly, no one would have expected Martin to be saying things like this is "probably the best time of my life," as he did over the weekend.
"I could never have imagined," Self said Tuesday, "that a guy who has labored as much as he has all year long could have had the three weeks he's having now."
In a perfect world, perhaps Martin might have instantly been in alignment with what Self wanted from him and never would have suffered a right knee injury in December that led to a halting return to full health.
Martin missed 10 games altogether, and you had to wonder what was meant to be when the injury even was aggravated from a game he sat out: When Texas fans stormed the court after the Longhorns beat KU 79-76 on Feb. 7 in Austin, Self said on his weekly Hawk Talk radio show a day later, Martin's knee got bumped in what Self called contact that was "significant to him because he's still so sore."
Martin didn't resume playing until Feb. 26 at Baylor, and at least from the outside looking in during the first few games of his return (13 points in five games) it was impossible to anticipate what was to come.
Behind the scenes, though, his teammates saw the flash and dash we all see now and the determination he was revealing in his work with KU athletic trainers.
At every turn, whether limited in practice or full-go, roommate Ochai Agbaji said, he was "always talking, always bringing positive vibes to the team and to everyone in the program."
That suddenly became apparent to anyone watching by the time the Jayhawks had won the Big 12 Tournament.
Simply put, Martin was riveting that weekend at both ends of the court and everywhere in between.
And he commenced a five-game streak of increasing his scoring from 10 to 12 (in the tournament semifinal and final) to 15, 20 and 23 in KU's first three NCAA Tournament games. He had nine points and six rebounds against Miami.
So, sure, maybe KU would have been better off overall if he would have stayed healthy and gelled sooner and without friction.
Then again, you could sure make a case that this deferred arrival has been advantageous to Kansas.
Agbaji suggested Martin may have benefited from watching and learning along the way and noted that it's hard for other teams to have fully scouted the different dynamic at play with a player who effectively didn't become part of the mix until the postseason.
While Self made the point on Saturday that timing with teammates could have prospered with more game reps together, he certainly was conscious of the spark that's been furnished by Martin's late advent and the extra swagger he's injected into this team.
"We've said all along that we had a chance to be a much better team than what we displayed, even though we had a really good year, just because of him," Self said. "But not knowing what 'him' really was."
Now they know what "him" really was, including being a guy who says Self "brings something out of me that a lot of coaches don't know how to do."
Meanwhile, this more challenging path has made for a fine microcosm of Martin's tale of resilience — a journey that includes having gone just 1-2 in NCAA games at Arizona State before now being part of four straight postseason wins and a Final Four..
"You don't forget those feelings," Martin said the day before KU beat Miami. "You try to wear that, you try to turn into a positive ... I think that's part of my story. Just being able to fail so many times and keep getting back up and continue to try to reach your goal. ...
"I'm just living in that story right now."
A story that turns out to be not two years early but right on time, even if the chants were for Remy instead of Maximus.
Being able to stir the crowd, he said, "It just comes with who I am."
With a smile, he added, "I think I have a good feel of the moment."
A moment all the more meaningful for the way it came to happen.
