Since the end of the USC basketball season March 11th, the future of head coach Frank Martin with the program has been in doubt. We reported March 13th that University President Bob Caslen and athletics director Ray Tanner had decided to move in another direction with the program and make a change. That would require a more than six million dollar buyout of the final two years of Martin’s contract.
The hope from USC’s standpoint was that Martin would land another job, and that would save them on the buyout and also allow them to avoid a messy firing of a coach who is generally well liked by the fans and respected nationally in the college basketball community.
According to a source, over the last 48 hours, the sentiment has shifted to Martin remaining as the Gamecocks head coach, largely due to pressure exerted by some state senators on USC’s administration and the Board of Trustees.
At least one former state senator who is a Martin proponent garnered up support from some of his former colleagues to pressure Caslen to keep Martin and not have to pay the buyout, or risk funding for some future projects on the drawing board for USC.
As things look Friday afternoon, USC apparently will retain Martin unless Martin himself decides to step away from the situation, or he finds another job.
Martin just completed his ninth season as head coach of the Gamecocks, and it was the poorest of his time in Columbia with a 6-15 mark, 4-13 in SEC competition.
Martin is 153-134 overall at USC (53%) and 74-91 (45%) in conference games. He led the Gamecocks to a school record 26 wins and to the Final Four in 2016-17 in his one NCAA Tournament appearance with the program. The Gamecocks made the NIT the previous season.
The Gamecocks had a streak of six consecutive non-losing seasons end this year, one of the most successful runs in the program’s history.
There is no ‘Chicken Curse’ at South Carolina; there’s only rotten Polticians who have had a terrible influence on Gamecocks sports for well over a century. If Martin is retained, very few fans will likely want to watch the poor product he puts on the floor for the 2021/2022 season.
Frank should be Gone along with Tanner. This legislator is so Support that its Tentacles reach into the USC Sports Program.
I think frank can get the job done.
Frank Martin should be retained and his contract should be extended for at least 2 years without an exorbitant buyout. He has proven his worth by taking us to the final four. The SEC has become a great conference in all sports and now is not the time to fire Frank. The $13 million to Muschamp was an embarrassment to USC , its alumni and fans. If anyone should be fired, it should be Tanner, Caslen or any board member that intercedes in athletic affairs. Their incompetence was very well demonstrated in the buyout of Muschamp, the current situation with Frank, as well as the failure to have legitimate coach replacements available prior to anticipated firings.
I think that coach martin has done a good job, considering the adversity he and his team faced this past season. Would like to see him stay.