With a championship background as a volleyball player, Jose Reynaldo (JR) Martins (pronounced mar-TEENS) joined the NJIT coaching staff at the start of the 2006-07 academic year.

The native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, is the assistant to head coach Ryan McNeil with both the Highlanders men's and women's teams.

Martins, a 2004 graduate of Lewis University in Romeoville is also a graduate of Pontific Catholic University of Campinas in his home country.

He was a four-year player at Lewis, where he was also a team captain and played on the Lewis team that captured the 2003 NCAA national championship match. A dean's list student for eight semesters at Lewis, he was an Academic All-America in 2004.

A veteran of the Brazilian army, he has coached collegiate volleyball in Brazil and then club volleyball in the Midwestern United States, before returning to Brazil, where he played and coached club ball.

His presence was felt at the beginning of his NJIT tenure, as he helped Ryan McNeil coach the Highlander women to a strong opening venture into Division I competition and then the men's team to a 19-10 overall record and the 2007 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Hay Division championship.