To say that this basketball season has not treated South Carolina’s men well would be an understatement.
Entering the last week of the regular season, Gamecocks sit in a sad 6-13 (4-11 SEC) and are fresh from a 101-73 loss at the hands of Arkansas (which, to be fair, is in the top 15) The discussion is starting for coach Frank Martin, who had a positive result for COVID twice last year, amid the team’s struggle to stay healthy and on the court. A team that was designed by many in the preseason to have the quality of the NCAA Tournament proved anything but, plagued by inconsistency and a lack of punctuation – frustrating marks from the Martin era that have not yet been eliminated.
Not everything was bad for South Carolina: the Gamecocks won a remarkable victory against the then n. 22 Florida, and swept rival Georgia to somehow keep the streak of 10 consecutive victories alive and well in one of the program’s most tumultuous years. Outside the courtroom, the school also escaped an NCAA investigation without further punishment, which is always a cause for celebration. Even so, this campaign was terribly disappointing, especially in light of what appeared to be a reasonable expectation of success.
Of course, this has been a strange year for just about every basketball team. COVID’s delays and cancellations wreaked havoc on several programs and schedules, and South Carolina was one of the hardest hit, missing out on the entire month of December. With Gamecocks being unable to practice, it is difficult to overestimate how much of an effect it could have had on this team, particularly in the crucial part of the beginning of the season, when players are building chemistry and learning the best way to play with each other. and within the system. There is no telling how deep the hole that the waste of development time dug for this team, and straight from the gate to boot. Facing teams that lost little or no time to COVID only highlighted this, often painfully.
But, on the other hand, the Columbia people have been uneasy about Frank Martin for a few years. Although he will deservedly go down in USC history for that magical run in the Final Four in 2017, no real recruiting gain has been realized with this achievement. As sports director Ray Tanner himself recently pointed out, Gamecocks have lost the NCAA tournament eight times in Martin’s nine years. And under his leadership, this program saw an absolutely bewildering amount of transfers and scale turnover, while establishing an annual tradition of losing to at least one small school in the off-conference schedule that should have been pitifully out of touch (and that even included Division II programs).
After the defeat in Arkansas, Martin summed up the season by calling it “one of them years”, and there is no doubt that external factors conspired against the Gamecocks. But even Martin acknowledged that there were internal factors at work as well, adding “I didn’t expect some of the things we’re dealing with and I’m not talking about COVID”. So the question is, can he fix it? And does South Carolina trust him to do that?
The Gamecocks are on a similar cliff now with Martin that they were with Will Muschamp. The downward trend in the football program was evident, not just a bad year, and the opportunity to find a way out didn’t work. So the USC made the pragmatic choice and moved on, although a season altered by COVID (and related budget concerns) is a convenient excuse to keep Muschamp for another year. But it is more difficult to pull the plug on one of the most talented coaches in the school’s basketball history, so the USC could choose to wait out of respect for such achievements, as well as COVID’s difficulties. And on a practical level, changing from a very expensive trainer was hard enough on the books in a year without a prescription; switching from Martin shortly thereafter may not be feasible.
With the SEC tournament on the horizon, Gamecocks have one more chance to end the season on a high. In the absence of a miracle, however, they will be sitting at home during March Madness once again. Apathy took over many fans, which undoubtedly helped to stimulate the school to act in football. We will have to wait and see what the government decides about basketball.