By Benjamin Herrold
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Last week, after a highly anticipated search, Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk named Cuonzo Martin the next head basketball coach of the Tigers.
Martin, who had been the coach at California for three seasons, is from East St. Louis and coached at Missouri State, so he has some local ties.
One of the key reasons Martin was hired was the hope that he could recruit well, especially in the St. Louis metro area, where numerous talented players have gone on to play at schools other than Missouri. Couple with Washington firing Lorenzo Romar, speculation and reports swirled that Martin could be in the running to bring highly touted prospect Michael Porter, Jr. to Missouri. Porter played high school basketball in Columbia up until this most recent season, when his family had moved to Washington.
Porter presents a fascinating situation, but he is just the first part of a long recruiting story that will go a long way in determining how Martin will fare at Missouri.
Martin’s teams are known for their defensive prowess, but they sometimes struggle to score. Developing a decent offense will be key. Of course, talented players always go a long way in that department.
As for Martin’s head coaching record so far, you can probably see what you want to see. He’s certainly a capable coach. In his nine years as head coach, three each at Missouri State, Tennessee and Cal, he has a career 186-121 record, a .606 win percentage. He has six 20-win seasons, but he only has two NCAA Tournament appearances. His Tennessee team did make it to the Sweet 16 in 2014.
Martin got some talented players at Cal, but only made the NCAA Tournament there one time, getting upset in the first round. College basketball records can be hard to analyze as nonconference schedules can vary wildly in difficulty. Martin went 62-39 at Cal, but a more modest 28-24 in Pac-12 Conference play.
Of course, as fun as NCAA Tournament talk is, especially in March, step one for Martin is to simply get Missouri competitive again. The last seasons were unimaginably bad compared to what Missouri has been as a basketball program over the last 50 years. The sparse crowds and significantly declined fan interest was both understandable and an ominous sign.
The Martin hire might provide a spark of interest, as would good recruiting news. But the ultimate way to bring fans back is by winning. Or at least more consistently competitive basketball.
It remains to be seen if any players will transfer due to the coaching change, but Missouri does have some players who seem like they could be useful pieces of a winning team. Although it could be a long rebuilding process, fans will probably be patient after the recent depths of the program. Almost anything would be a step in the right direction, and a key player or two could almost instantly upgrade the outlook.
There’s usually optimism when a new coaching era begins, and Tiger fans are surely ready to feel hopeful again.