The lack of appearances in NCAA tournaments at Gamecocks only tarnishes Frank Martin’s curriculum | South Carolina

COLOMBIA – Frank Martin was teaching math. He knows the numbers.

147: Martin’s victories in South Carolina, the third largest in the program’s history.

4: Winning seasons of the SEC in eight years. Gamecocks had three in 21 years before Martin.

3: The top four in the SEC, all in the past five years. USC had four in the previous 24.

1: Appearance in Final Four, the only one in Palmetto’s state basketball history.

By these numbers, Martin is the most successful USC coach since the legendary Frank McGuire. But Martin understands these other numbers very well.

1: Participation in the NCAA tournament over eight seasons.

“No, it’s not frustrating to hear fans complain about it,” he said on the eve of his ninth season in Columbia. “At the end of the day, I’m frustrated with that too.”

For some, triumph trumps regularity. Martin’s Gamecocks were just one NCAA tournament, but what a tournament it was.

In his first and only attempt, Martin took the USC, a program with nine NCAA tournaments that had not won a tournament game in 44 years, for the 2017 Final Four. He also tied McGuire as the most winning coach in all Gamecocks times at the NCAA Tournament, and really surpassed him, considering that two of McGuire’s four wins were games of consolation.

This appearance in Final Four, which challenges as the best athletic moment in the school’s history considering how unique and unexpected it was, seems to be the only argument to make about whether Martin was successful or not.

However, Gamecocks haven’t sniffed out the NCAA Tournament since, leaving some complaining about consistency.

Martin won. However, Power-5 coaches are judged on arriving at the tournament, and he participated in one in eight years.

His team this year, he says, has the most talent since the fourth final. If he arrives at the tournament this year, doubts and complaints will disappear.

Reasons, not excuses

Martin inherited such a mess when he arrived for the 2012/13 season that it would take several seasons just to be decent. It is doubtful that even the most passionate fan would expect a spot in the NCAA tournament in its first three years.

The fourth was a team worthy of an NCAA tournament offer was left out. Much was said about the strength of the schedule and a 1-3 record to end the regular season.

There was also the fact that it was the first time since 2002 that a large conference team with at least 24 wins was left out of the NCAA tournament.

“People don’t like it when I say that, but South Carolina basketball on the national scene has long since become irrelevant. You can argue for any reason, but since 1973, we haven’t won a game at the NCAA Tournament, ”said Martin. “So, in March, South Carolina basketball was not visible. I don’t think we ever have the benefit of the doubt when it comes to March. “

It always seemed like Gamecocks stop being talked about the first time they hit their toes during the season, and that year was another example. USC started 15-0, but the national media barely noticed until the 16th^º game, a defeat in Alabama.

After that, it was “look, they are not so good” and “that schedule was very smooth”. Making it 15-0 against anyone in this era of impressive parity in the sport is remarkable, but the USC was treated like an annoying little brother.

Martin’s fifth season was the year of the Final Four, and although that team lost 75 percent of its score and probably shouldn’t have made it to the NCAA Tournament in Year 6, many fans expressed their dissatisfaction that the Final Four did not be paying dividends, as in recruiting. The years 6-8 were marked by devastating injuries and glaring losses outside the conference that took the shine off the SEC’s strong seasons.

“Last year, we were there. We were going into the postseason, it was exactly the tournament, ”said Martin. “We lost, obviously, against Stetson and we didn’t play well in the tournament in Mexico. We put ourselves in a situation where we had to win at the end of the year, but we were still 18-13 with some important victories. “

Ultimately, the pandemic canceled all postseason tournaments. The USC was still alive for a race in the SEC tournament and a chance at the NCAAs, but if not, a spot at the NIT seemed guaranteed.

NIT after two years with nothing after a Final Four, at a school that was very successful at NIT, did not touch the subject. That is why this year’s team, with so much veteran talent, almost needs to make the tournament just to show that the program has moved forward.

“We are going to have fun this year, because we all know what we are doing, we all combine it with really good chemistry,” said playmaker AJ Lawson. “This year is going to be a good one.”

What happened?

Recruitment would never return immediately after the Final Four. Next season’s gang had already signed in the previous November.

The problem was that Martin was struggling to fix holes left by players who made foolish decisions. This really created a three-year window of recruitment losses: the season before Final Four, Final Four and post-Final Four.

“It’s my fault, but although it’s mine, I don’t want anyone to speak ill of a player in a group of players. We had injuries and I made recruitment errors before the quarterfinals, ”said Martin. “We had the incident with the BB gun. So, we had to fight and fill scholarships in the spring of the following year. “

Five players were suspended for the 2016 Gamecocks NIT games after being charged with various crimes related to a high-powered BB gun. Three did not end their careers at USC, while a fourth was disqualified by doctors.

In all, 10 players from the 2015-16 team who should have gone to the NCAA Tournament were not on the 2016-17 team that went to the Final Four. But hey, it was a Final Four team, so the defections didn’t hurt that much, right?

Yes, that year. Then, all the veterans on that team left and all the players who were being prepared to take their places were already gone.

“This does not mean that we recruit bad children, but we recruit people who did not fit who we are. Now you have a young man who makes a mistake, in (fired guard Rakym Felder), ”said Martin. “I tried to protect myself from defeat (now Denver Nugget PJ Dozier). We took extra guards on purpose if he left, and he left, but not everything worked out.

“We were very young again. After that, we made two graduation transfers. Then you lose them, and you become young again. It is a combination of all these things. “

This year’s cast lost three from last year and added one. The other 12 played last season.

Voices in the seats

Martin remembers the noise of the State Farm Stadium crowd in 2017, after the Gamecocks, in less than five minutes from the game clock, turned a 14-point handicap against Gonzaga into a two-point advantage. There were more than 70,000 people in that arena, but Martin said he was shocked by the sound of Gamecock fans who traveled there for the Final Four.

A month later, Martin was at a Target store in Columbia and found some fans. The youngest pointed to his father and said: “Father! This is Frank Martin! He’s our coach! “

The father asked Martin if he coached football.

Martin said no, he coached basketball.

The father said, “I hope you find out why we’ve been waiting a long time for our basketball team to be a little decent.”

“That was a month after the Final Four,” said Martin. “I use this story to not insist on negativity, but it is the lack of relevance for so long.”

Martin complained about the presence before and in the social media era, but was quickly countered with “Stop losing”. Participation in the Colonial Life Arena increased dramatically during his tenure, but for a man who was used to crowding every night in Kansas, listening to himself in a cavernous 18,000-seat stadium was disturbing.

“I complained to the public publicly with some smart comments, and they said to me, ‘You know our fans, wait until January and they will be here. I didn’t want to hear that, ”said Martin. “We sold more tickets for the season the year after the Final Four than the year before. However, our participation in the games was greater in the year before Final Four than in the year after Final Four. “

It was not the lack of fans that caused some of the defeats that have shone in the past three seasons, losses associated with the historic weightlessness of the USC may have made it difficult to win the NCAA Tournament’s consideration, even if Gamecocks had the records to challenge it.

Still, it would be nice if fans discussed how long it took to get to the point of challenging it, and what the Gamecocks did in that lonely appearance, instead of just criticizing the flaws.

Here and now

Lawson and Jermaine Couisnard received pre-season honors from All-SEC. Losing Maik Kotsar to graduation was difficult, but the Gamecocks returned explosive striker Keyshawn Bryant and added Seventh Woods, who was in the squad last year during a transfer season, but played three years in North Carolina before that.

There is talent and experience in the squad, and enough “big” games on the lineup that if Gamecocks win some of them, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee will notice. The USC gets it right the first time, playing for Liberty on Saturday in Kansas City.

“We had a chance because our guard game is very good. It is the best offensive guard team I have had since I’m here, ”said Martin. “Our big guys need to keep growing and I think they will continue. We have depth and offensive firepower. “

He never made predictions about being a tournament team, but he likes that group and is finally out of the recruitment hole. The past three seasons have seen some strong wins, but also a tough defeat at the start of the season and numerous injuries.

Saturday begins the season and the countdown to March. The only question that matters will be answered on March 14, Selection Sunday.

Will Gamecocks be chosen, cementing Martin as the greatest USC coach since McGuire?

Or will the great moment of the program become increasingly distant?