To get fans in seats, men’s coach wants to emphasize accessibility
Head basketball coach Frank Martin won’t shed his shirt and paint his chest like former Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl to get students excited for men’s basketball games.
But, he added, that’s only because he’s too old. (“Maybe, in my 20s...” he joked, his voice trailing off.)
Almost anything else, it seems, is on the table.
The Gamecocks struggled last year, going only 10-21 overall with a last-place, 2-14 conference record, and attendance plummeted with the team’s play. Then-head coach Darrin Horn was fired at the end of the season, and Martin left a successful Kansas State program for a $2.05-million contract at USC.
Martin met with a handful of students and Student Ticketing Coordinator Adrienne White in the players lounge of Colonial Life Arena after Monday night’s practice to brainstorm ways to get the Garnet Army back into the seats. They discussed T-shirt and pizza giveaways and other promotions, as well as increasing Martin and his players’ visibility on campus. He said he’d be open to signing autographs and taking pictures with students on Greene Street. He has already visited two Greek organizations on campus and is open to speaking to others as well. At Kansas State, when students camped out before games, Martin and his staff were out at 6 a.m. delivering breakfast to the Wildcat faithful — and then again in the afternoon to serve them lunch. If the Gamecocks can improve enough to garner that kind of excitement, he’d do it again.
“If you guys need me to go jump up in the stands with you, I will,” Martin said. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get people in the building and win games. I’m all for that.”
Student Body President Kenny Tracy, who was one of the dozen or so students at the meeting, said he was impressed by Martin’s willingness to reach out to students. Tracy thinks the focus on accessibility will play a role in students decisions whether to attend the games.
“A lot of the conversation was about the interaction between the coaches and the players and the fans,” Tracy said. “I was impressed with Frank Martin’s accessibility and that he would do almost anything — besides painting up — for the fans and for the students. People will be seeing a lot more of him around campus, and that’s going to be good.”
Martin did say he’s hesitant to hold a Midnight Madness or a pep rally — both proposals by Student Government’s Freshman Council — until next year, because he doesn’t think the team has anything to celebrate yet.
But other ideas, including moving the TV cameras in the stadium to face the student section and having players enter the court down the aisles through the crowd (which Tracy likened to Clemson’s entrance at their home football games), seemed to have traction with both Martin and the students.
Martin made it clear he’s open to more suggestions from the rest of the student body on what they’d like to see at games. He said he’ll do whatever it takes to build a relationship with the students, which he hopes will manifest itself in increased attendance.
“I’ll make myself available for anything the students want,” Martin said. “I work for the school, and part of you guys being able to have a good experience is being able to connect with me. Because I need you guys in that building. I’d do anything for students.”
Martin knows attendance and the team’s success go hand-in-hand. He said one of the most intimidating moments on the road is when a team walks out onto the court for pre-game warmups, and a crowd is already getting in players’ heads. Having seen the crowds at football and volleyball games, Martin said if he can get students back in the seats, that type of atmosphere will return to Colonial Life Arena.
But for that to happen, the team will need to start winning.
“We can do all kinds of promotions,” he said. “We can do pizza giveaways, T-shirts — we can do all that stuff. If our team doesn’t play the way it needs to play, you ain’t coming back.”
“We’ve got to do our part and we need the students to do their part.”