Heading into his fifth season as South Carolina’s head coach, Frank Martin has seen improvement from his team each and every season. This trend should only continue for the South Carolina men's basketball program this season due to the expert leadership of its head coach.
Progress was slow in Frank Martin's first two seasons, but this was largely due to the fact that former coach Darrin Horn left Martin with neither fan support in the stands nor talent on the court. However, the past two seasons have been different. In 2014-15, the Gamecocks experienced their first winning season in half a decade, while providing a strong performance in both the non-conference schedule and in the conference tournament. In 2015-16, South Carolina started 15-0 and finished 25-9. That’s the most wins in school history since 1969. That mark would’ve been even sweeter if they hadn't been left in the lurch by the NCAA Tournament selection committee this past March — they would’ve qualified for the Big Dance for the first time since 2004.
So, does that mean they can improve further? If that’s going to happen, Martin will need to address more than a few personnel losses. Three seniors have left the roster, including Laimonas Chatkevicius, Michael Carrera and Mindaugas Kacinas. Carrera’s departure will hurt the most, as he was both the highest scorer and rebounder. Add that to the fact that Marcus Stroman, Jamall Gregory, Raymond Doby and Eric Cobb will not be returning to the team, and there are some holes on the roster.
However, there’s still plenty of reason for optimism, despite the fact that the Gamecocks were picked to finish eighth in the conference during SEC Basketball Media Days this fall.
That optimism is best expressed by Arkansas Democrat-Gazette writer Jimmy Carter, who wrote, “Frank Martin is one of the better coaches in the SEC and will get the most out of his team." The Gamecocks return talent, but they’ll need to develop the depth chart if they want to return to the height of 2015-16.
There are three reasons for fans to be optimistic about Martin's ability to lead this program. First, Martin can turn around a program pretty quickly. South Carolina was obviously a rebuilding project, but he took Kansas State to the tournament on his first year of the job. Second, Martin can make something out of nothing. Martin recruited the 43rd and 33rd nationally ranked classes in 2014 and 2015, respectively, and only three out of ten prospects are still with the program. Still, he was able been to piece together a winning season in 2015. Last but not least, there’s hope for immediate optimism in Columbia, especially after a promising 2015-2016 season.
Martin is a hell of a coach and has the university and fan base on his side. However, the long-term future of this program rests in the hands of how well he can recruit. Will Martin continue to pull in mid-tier recruiting classes, or can he raise the bar with a top 20 recruiting class, and compete with national powers for four- and five-star players?
If the track record of Frank Martin is any hint toward the future of this program, success and improvement await South Carolina in the coming years.