Reported men’s basketball coaching hire already exciting Gamecock faithful
Though multiple media outlets reported the hiring of Kansas State’s Frank Martin as South Carolina’s next basketball coach Monday afternoon, there was a noticeable buzz around the program when the first rumors of Martin’s interest sprouted.
The buzz might have originated from third-year pre-law political science student Katherine Brown, a Manhattan, Kan., native whose brother went to Kansas State, as her phone hadn’t stopped going off since first hearing about Martin’s interest in coaching the Gamecocks.
“All of my friends that know where I’m from — I could show you my phone right now — have texted me dozens of text messages,” Brown said.
After the Gamecocks’ program-worst 10-21 season, Athletic Director Eric Hyman and Gamecock fans will turn to Martin to continue the buzz for a fan base that has progressively deteriorated in Darrin Horn’s four-year tenure.
Martin, who took Kansas State to the NCAA Tournament in four of his five years as coach, did some texting of his own to ESPN’s Andy Katz, saying he accepted the men’s hoops coaching position. The USC board of trustees called a meeting for Tuesday at 10 a.m. for a “contractual matter.” South Carolina later announced a press conference for Hyman to discuss the men’s basketball coaching situation, where Hyman is expected to make Martin’s hiring official.
Brown said that coaching at USC will give Martin a chance to put his stamp on the program, as he followed current West Virginia coach Bob Huggins at K-State.
“Carolina serves the perfect purpose for him in that he can start something from scratch,” Brown said. “He can mix it all up, bake it however he wants it and put his name on it. That’s something that he wasn’t able to do because Bob Huggins started it at K-State and he kind of picked it up.”
Brown, who is certain that she’s the only USC student from Manhattan, said that the atmosphere at K-State basketball was vastly different from that of South Carolina, where she recalled angering Gamecock fans for trying to stand and cheer the entire game when other fans wanted to stay seated.
Brown referred to Martin multiple times as a “savior” of the basketball program, and she firmly believes that within several years, he can bring the program the national significance it has long lacked. Furthermore, Brown believes that Martin’s name recognition will quickly change the atmosphere of USC basketball.
“I remember being gawked at when I was screaming for our boys,” Brown said. “Everyone looked at me like I was insane, but I came from a place in Manhattan where that is what they bleed. They bleed purple, and it’s not for their football team, it’s for their basketball team.”
At Kansas State, Brown described Martin as “present,” saying that Martin’s notorious expressions and in-game antics were a draw for fans. There are shirts and billboards across town that advertised Martin’s “10 Faces of Anger,” according to Brown.
After the story of Martin’s departure broke in the Kansas City Star, Brown said there were immediately talks on Facebook and Twitter of “blacking-out” the town, where everyone wears black, which she said is reserved for big rivalry games or riots.
“I’m very curious as to what will happen tonight because I know a lot of my friends have talked about literally rioting all over downtown in Kansas,” Brown said.
Though Brown said she is partially upset that Martin will no longer be at Kansas State, she is excited to see how he reinvigorates the basketball program at South Carolina, as in her opinion, the Wildcats no longer need the help, and it’s a perfect marriage for USC.
“Something that would be perfect is completing our trifecta,” Brown said. “We have a very successful football team, a wildly successful baseball team, and if we can garner our fan support and are able to bring people to the basketball games, recruit and keep our recruits, we’ll probably be a successful basketball school also. That would be something that would make me so proud to be a Gamecock.”