Kenyon Martin Jr., son of former NBA forward Kenyon Martin, is skipping college to pursue professional basketball opportunities, sources confirmed to ESPN.
247Sports first reported the news.
Martin committed to Vanderbilt in early May and signed a national letter of intent on May 15. He was expected to arrive on campus this week, but he informed the Vanderbilt coaching staff earlier this week he instead planned on exploring professional options, sources told ESPN.
Top-five recruit R.J. Hampton announced in late May that he was bypassing college and signed a professional contract with the New Zealand Breakers of the National Basketball League in Australia. Hampton's announcement to skip college influenced Martin's decision, sources told ESPN.
Martin, a three-star forward from Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, California, is not believed to have signed a professional contract at this point. He averaged 16.7 points and 9.8 rebounds for Sierra Canyon last season.
Martin played alongside Scotty Pippen Jr. -- son of the NBA Hall of Famer -- with both Sierra Canyon School and the Oakland Soldiers grassroots program, and Pippen also signed with Vanderbilt in the 2019 recruiting class. Pippen arrived on campus earlier this week.
Vanderbilt went 0-18 in SEC play last season and fired head coach Bryce Drew shortly after its campaign ended. The Commodores replaced Drew with two-time NBA All-Star Jerry Stackhouse, who played for 18 seasons in the NBA before spending four seasons as a coach in both the NBA and D-League.