Several sources told ABC Columbia on Friday morning that there has yet to be a decision on Frank Martin’s future in South Carolina, although the USC administration may be quite divided on the issue.
Speaking on condition of anonymity on Friday, a source said at a recent meeting of members of the Board of Trustees, the Board was generally in favor of retaining Martin as a South Carolina basketball coach, citing his purchase agreement as one of main factors.
After buying former football coach Will Muschamp for $ 12.9 million in December, the board is wary of spending more money to buy another coach.
According to a source, the decision now rests with USC President Bob Caslen, with the advice of athletics director Ray Tanner.
South Carolina ended the 2021 season with a record of 6-15 (4-11 SEC), the worst in nine seasons under Martin. But it was not a normal year at all. Martin and his players dealt with several COVID-19 outages. Martin himself was diagnosed with COVID twice and lost his hair in the process.
Carolina’s season ended on March 11 with a loss to Ole Miss in the SEC tournament, and since then, Martin and the USC bosses have talked about the season, but conversations about Martin’s contract have been held between Martin’s agent and the USC. Martin has two more years in his remaining contract and wants an extension of the contract, according to several sources, although there is no indication that USC would be willing to offer Martin that option.
A source told ABC Columbia on Friday that if Martin gets an extension, it will come with “multiple stipulations”. These were not disclosed to ABC Columbia.
Martin took South Carolina to his first Final Four in 2017 and currently has more postseason wins than any coach in school history.