Martin, who has coached and worked at the Falconer Street campus for the last 19 years, including the last six as AD, has announced that he is retiring, effective at the end of today.

“It’s been a wonderful ride,” Martin said. “I’ve watched our student-athletes do some great things over those 19 years.”

During Martin’s tenure as AD, Jamestown CC has produced 14 NJCAA All-Americans, 75 all-NJCAA Region 3 selections, 115 All-Western New York Athletic Conference choices, 92 NJCAA Academic All-Americans, 22 NJCAA Academic All-American teams, and two NJCAA Academic All-American Teams of the Year.

As a coach of the school’s women’s basketball team from 1999 through 2012, Martin guided the Lady Jayhawks to a 282-144 record, claimed one Region 3 championship in 2009-10 and was named the Region 3 Coach of the Year three times.

“I’m very proud of the success that we’ve had over the years,” he said. “In women’s basketball, I always said all I did was drive the bus. The kids won all those games.”

In addition to his coaching and overseeing live-streaming of Jamestown CC’s athletic events and an athletic website, Martin is also proud of the 19 years that the school has hosted the NJCAA Division III Golf National Championships at Chautauqua Golf Club where he worked with pros Stan Marshaus and Troy Moss; and the community service projects that the Jayhawks’ teams have done over the years.

Dr. Kirk Young, Jamestown CC’s vice president of enrollment management and institutional advancement, said it “would be tough to summarize the impact (Martin has) had on the college in his long tenure here.”

“Keith’s dedication to this institution can’t be overstated,” he said. “He is passionate about JCC. His impact has been tremendous. There are, I’m sure, hundreds of young people who have been significantly impacted for the better because of their interaction with him.”

Martin, a 1984 Falconer Central School and a 1986 Jamestown CC graduate, received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Eastern Connecticut State University in 1989 and then lived, worked and coached there until he returned to the area in the fall of 1998. That next spring he accepted the assistant baseball coaching position at Jamestown CC and, in the fall of 1999, he was named the Lady Jayhawks’ basketball coach.

“When I came back, I didn’t know what I was going to do,” said Martin, who thanked former Jamestown CC Faculty-Student Association director Greg Fish and former athletic director Bill Burk for hiring him. “To be allowed to come back home and coach in my own hometown and then become athletic director in my own hometown, it’s an unbelievable thing. It doesn’t happen in everybody’s life. I’ve been blessed to do this.”

In recent years, Martin’s work at Jamestown CC has drawn the attention of both NJCAA Region 3 and the NJCAA national offices. On Tuesday night, NJCAA chief executive officer Chris Parker announced the assignments for the 2018-19 school year, and Martin will be serving on the NJCAA Division III baseball and golf committees. That’s in addition to continuing as the region’s assistant men’s director and its business manager, which have one more year to run.

“I greatly appreciate it, because it means a lot to me,” Martin said. ” … Moving up to region and national committees is what you strive for in this business.”

Meanwhile, Young said Jamestown CC is currently in the search for a new athletic director and interviews will be conducted in the next few weeks.

“We hope to have someone in place as soon as possible,” he said.

Until then, assistant athletic director Angela Pucciarelli will fill in as athletic director on an interim basis, Young added.

As for Martin, he said he “hopes to continue to help the community in some facet” as he begins a new chapter in his professional life.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he added. “This community has been wonderful to me and I want to continue to give back. I just need to say thank you, not only to the student-athletes, but also to the parents, our coaches and the community for all their support since I’ve been back. It’s been a wonderful ride. I wish everyone around our athletic department the best. It’s time for me to move on.”