University of Vermont Athletic Hall of Fame
Frank T. Martiniuk 1970 - Basketball
In only three seasons, 1967-1970, Frank Martiniuk, a 1980 Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, became the UVM's career scoring leader in basketball, scoring 1,323 points, an average of 18.6 points a game. The 'Machine' as tabbed by his freshman coach, Ralph Lapointe, had 479 and 474 points his junior and senior years and both were single-season records at UVM. The Union City, N.J. native also hit for 43 points in one game in 1969 against So. Connecticut, a school single-game record that stood until 1994.
Although Warren Prehmus broke Martiniuk's career-scoring mark in 1977, his 1,323 points are the most at UVM in a three-year period as freshmen were not allowed to play during Martiniuk's time. Martiniuk received his share of honors while playing basketball at Vermont, including being selected to the ECAC All-Star team and the UPI and NABC All-New England squad. Martiniuk also was named to the All-Yankee Conference team for three consecutive years (first-team honors in 1970) and was selected to play in the 15th annual New England Hall of Fame All-Star game in 1970. He also served as captain of the Catamounts for two seasons and was named the John 'Fuzzy' Evans Most Valuable Player as a senior in 1970.
An outstanding student, he was on the Dean's List throughout his undergraduate days at Vermont. The former basketball star received his M.S. in Zoology in 1973 from Rutgers and his Ph. D. work at New York University in 1981.
