Four years ago, the South Carolina men's basketball program looked dead. After a 10-21 season, the Gamecocks found the spark they needed: a successful coach with postseason experience and a personality to draw in fans.
After the 2015-16 season, the program has been rejuvenated, largely because of the efforts of head coach Frank Martin, who led the Gamecocks to a school-record 25 wins last season after the team was predicted to finish seventh in the SEC.
While the ultimate goal for Martin is to lead South Carolina into the NCAA Tournament — something he has yet to accomplish — it's hard to deny that the former Kansas State head man has done what few thought was possible: make the Gamecocks relevant again.
"It’s been hard," Martin said. "The challenge is what excited me. To be able to do it, you’ve gotta have people you can trust around you. That’s why our staff is so important. Having a leader like Ray Tanner around every day, that was so important."
Martin didn't only have one legendary mentor to draw from, though. The Miami native points to successful coaches Steve Spurrier and Dawn Staley as great influences in the early stages of his South Carolina career.
"They were all so helpful to me, especially at the beginning, building the program," Martin said. "I had a bunch of people that are Hall of Famers that have helped me, and that just goes to show how lucky I am."
It was a slow process through Martin's first three seasons. Starting from the 2012-13 campaign, the Gamecocks posted a 15-39 record in SEC play, never finishing outside the bottom four in the conference. But behind the scenes, Martin was implementing a new culture, and in his fourth year, the team reaped its benefits.
"When you’re trying to build something from scratch, that’s getting back to the record," Martin said. "Materialistically, if you focus in on that, you’re going to go home feeling like a failure a lot more than you do a success story."
Martin's mantra was to focus on improving every single day, and only worry about the score during the games. He modeled the system after Staley's, which he defines as a "relentless approach on how they attack everything."
The results? Last season, the Gamecocks climbed as high as No. 19 in the AP Poll, Michael Carrera earned All-SEC honors, and the team won nine games against top-100 opponents.
This season, Martin is tasked with keeping the momentum going despite losing seven players from last year's rotation. He's not shy to point out that the frontcourt has just one experienced player, but that doesn't mean he's buying into the perception that the team will struggle. At the same time, that doesn't mean he thinks the season will be easy because of last year's success.
"Every single season has no correlation to the previous year or to what’s going to happen the following year," Martin said. "This year’s team has to find its identity."
That identity likely lies in the backcourt, led by seniors Sindarius Thornwell, Duane Notice and Justin McKie in addition to sophomore point guard PJ Dozier. Martin has great confidence in the ability and leadership of his three seniors and said Dozier is "prepared to take a huge step as a sophomore."
Dozier and Thornwell were top-40 recruits when they came into the program, but they aren't the only top-flight talents Martin will have at his disposal this year. TeMarcus Blanton, a former four-star recruit according to 247Sports, is healthy this season and should play a major role.
"Mentally, he’s a more mature person, a more mature player, along with now he’s feeling a lot better about himself physically," Martin said of Blanton. "So it gives him the opportunity to lead and be more impactful."
It was a process for South Carolina to reach SEC relevancy. With all the personnel losses, the Gamecocks are still projected to finish eighth in the SEC, but Martin has proven able to defy the odds, and he's earned the respect of his players and the fans.
"[Martin has] gotten the Gamecock family behind us and coming to the games and being there with us through the losses and through the bad seasons," Thornwell said. "And now that we have a winning program, everyone’s just starting to follow in behind."