Cristian Martinez moved here because of family. He stayed here because of family. And now he has a chance to create a new kind of family.

The Puerto Rican native was announced as the head girls’ basketball coach for the Aberdeen Christian Knights earlier this week.

Martinez has previously served as a junior high coach at Aberdeen Roncalli. The helm of the Knights’ program will be his first stint at the varsity level.

While the varsity stage will be a new one for Martinez, the program is not. Martinez moved to Aberdeen in 2008 and has family members that both attend and have graduated from ACS. He also played basketball with outgoing coaches Michael and David Rohrbach.

“I’m very familiar with the school,” Martinez said.

That, plus coaching at the junior high level, prompted Martinez to consider the varsity position with the Knights.

“I like to connect with the players and to help them,” he said.

The Knights are coming off their best season in school history, advancing to the state tournament for the first time, finishing sixth.

Martinez said he hopes to keep that winning success going.

“That’s the plan,” he said. “The history from David and Michael, they did an amazing job. It’s hard to follow. I feel that pressure, but hopefully we do that.”