The new South Carolina men’s basketball coaching staff is set, as USC announced today that Frank Martin will bring Brad Underwood, Matt Figger and Lamont Evans from Kansas State.
They will have the same roles as they did under Martin in Manhattan, so Underwood will be the top assistant and associate head coach, while Figger will be the recruiting coordinator.
This was expected, not only because new coaches usually bring aboard their own staffs, but because now former USC assistant Mike Boynton, who worked under Martin’s predecessor, Darrin Horn, told WXBT radio in Columbia on Monday that Martin would do this.
Now comes a question that remains more unclear than the makeup of the staff ever was, and one more pertinent to USC’s success in the short term under Martin: Which players, if any, will decide to transfer?
Martin was asked in particular today about power forward Anthony Gill and center Damontre Harris – two of the best players in the program. Gill, a 6-8 freshman, and Harris, a 6-9 sophomore, both started last season, and whether they return to the team in Martin’s first year could determine, to a large degree, just how many games USC wins in 2012-13, which already figured to be a rocky season no matter what.
Harris and Gill ranked first and second on the team in rebounding last season, with 5.5 and 4.7 per game. Gill was third in scoring (7.6 points per game), while Harris was fourth (6.8). USC’s leading returning scorer is rising junior point guard Bruce Ellington, who ranked second on the team last year with 11 points per game. But he is doubling up with football again, so he won’t be with the team until early December for the second straight year.
That means that if Harris and Gill decide to transfer – and they haven’t decided yet – USC would be without its top four scorers from last season at the beginning of 2012-13. (Leading scorer Malik Cooke was a senior last year, and he also averaged 4.7 rebounds, tied with Gill.) The only returning starter, at least at the beginning of the 2012-13 season, would be shooting guard Damien Leonard, who also averaged 6.8 points as a freshman, tied with Harris for fourth.
The Gamecocks are not stocked with a ton of talent, which is why they went 10-21 last season.
Gill and Harris were two of Horn’s best recruits. Gill was the No. 144 overall recruit and No. 29
power forward in his class, according to Rivals.com. Harris was No. 64 overall and No. 15 among power forwards. Leonard was No. 85 and No. 22 among shooting guards. Ellington was No. 96 and No. 24 among point guards.
Martin has three spots available in this class, even with the addition of incoming freshman power forward Tyrone Haughton, because Ellington will once again be on a football scholarship. It’ll be interesting to see how heavily his staff targets junior college players. Martin extensively recruited junior college players during his time at Kansas State, and each member of his staff has connections in the junior college ranks.
Here’s what Martin had to say today when asked about the possibility of Harris and/or Gill deciding to transfer ...
“We’ve spoken,” he said. “They obviously are trying to figure out who I am and what we’re about. Their families are inquiring. I’ve got conversations here today with their families and face-to-face meetings with their families. Once we get past the next four or five days, I should have more clarity with those two and other guys in our program.”
He knew he was going to have to deal with these issues.
“That happens any time there’s a coaching change around the country,” he said. “At K-State, Bruce (Weber, who replaced Martin) is dealing with that one as we speak. Those kids signed up to play for Darrin and the University of South Carolina. I don’t take that as a negative. Never have. Never will. We went through it when we got to K-State six years ago. I didn’t recruit these kids to South Carolina or any other school. It’s my job here for the next week, two weeks, three weeks to earn their trust, to introduce myself and our staff to their families, so they can know who we are, what we’re about and what our objectives and goals and ideas are, and make sure it fits what they need.
“I’m a big believer that everybody – me, the players, the staff, the administration – everybody has to be fully invested. Everyone has to have both feet in the circle for this to succeed. And then collectively, we can make this work. It’s my job to answer questions to those families the way I do every other year in recruiting. You have these conversations (during recruiting) and people decide from School A, B, C and D, whoever they feel the most comfortable with and they trust the most, that’s who they go to. That’s my charge here for the next couple weeks, is to put my arm around not just the two players you asked (about), but every member of our basketball team and make sure that they fully understand what we’re about, our direction, our mission, that their families ask us questions, so everyone’s comfortable with the plan and our mission.”
Martin is also recruiting to build for the future, while trying to get an idea about what he has to work with among the current players. He is good friends with two Southeastern Conference coaches: Alabama’s Anthony Grant, who he grew up with in Miami, and Mississippi’s Andy Kennedy, who he worked with (and for) at Cincinnati.
College basketball’s recruiting calendar changed last fall, when the NCAA decided to once again let coaches evaluate players at summer league and AAU events in April.
So starting tomorrow and running through April 18, coaches can contact recruits, except for April 9-12. That’ll be an important time for Martin’s staff. Then, the evaluation periods this month are on April 20-22 and April 27-29. The July evaluation period, once a brutal grind for coaches, has been trimmed to July 11-15, 18-22 and 25-29.
In terms of recruiting, Martin said, “We’re trying to put our arms around the folks here in the state first. That’s first and foremost and the most important thing. And then I’ve got to get a feel for our team. Our staff has been recruiting guys all year, and everyone is aware that we’re here now. Those conversations have already gotten a little deeper. Now, who we decide to offer scholarships to, it’s too soon for me to answer that question, because I don’t have a feel for our players here. We’re going to work them out today for the first time. And then we’re going to work them out two more times this week.
“I know what other people have told me (about USC’s players), and I’m going to keep that private. I know what other coaches in this league have told me. I don’t make decisions on what other people say, because there might be a guy here that someone out there says is real talented, but if that guy doesn’t have both feet in, he and I aren’t going to get along, so it’s not going to work. Yet there might be a kid that people on the outside say, ‘He’s not very good.’ But if that guy’s both feet are in, we’ll get it done. So I’ve got to figure that one out here first.”
Kansas State’s top commitment for 2012, 7-foot Robert Upshaw, has backed out of that commitment, but will not follow Martin to USC, according to what members of his family told ESPN.com. Upshaw, the No. 8 center and No. 43 overall recruit in the Class of 2012, never signed a letter of intent with Kansas State, so he isn’t bound to the school.
They will have the same roles as they did under Martin in Manhattan, so Underwood will be the top assistant and associate head coach, while Figger will be the recruiting coordinator.
This was expected, not only because new coaches usually bring aboard their own staffs, but because now former USC assistant Mike Boynton, who worked under Martin’s predecessor, Darrin Horn, told WXBT radio in Columbia on Monday that Martin would do this.
Now comes a question that remains more unclear than the makeup of the staff ever was, and one more pertinent to USC’s success in the short term under Martin: Which players, if any, will decide to transfer?
Martin was asked in particular today about power forward Anthony Gill and center Damontre Harris – two of the best players in the program. Gill, a 6-8 freshman, and Harris, a 6-9 sophomore, both started last season, and whether they return to the team in Martin’s first year could determine, to a large degree, just how many games USC wins in 2012-13, which already figured to be a rocky season no matter what.
Harris and Gill ranked first and second on the team in rebounding last season, with 5.5 and 4.7 per game. Gill was third in scoring (7.6 points per game), while Harris was fourth (6.8). USC’s leading returning scorer is rising junior point guard Bruce Ellington, who ranked second on the team last year with 11 points per game. But he is doubling up with football again, so he won’t be with the team until early December for the second straight year.
That means that if Harris and Gill decide to transfer – and they haven’t decided yet – USC would be without its top four scorers from last season at the beginning of 2012-13. (Leading scorer Malik Cooke was a senior last year, and he also averaged 4.7 rebounds, tied with Gill.) The only returning starter, at least at the beginning of the 2012-13 season, would be shooting guard Damien Leonard, who also averaged 6.8 points as a freshman, tied with Harris for fourth.
The Gamecocks are not stocked with a ton of talent, which is why they went 10-21 last season.
Gill and Harris were two of Horn’s best recruits. Gill was the No. 144 overall recruit and No. 29
power forward in his class, according to Rivals.com. Harris was No. 64 overall and No. 15 among power forwards. Leonard was No. 85 and No. 22 among shooting guards. Ellington was No. 96 and No. 24 among point guards.
Martin has three spots available in this class, even with the addition of incoming freshman power forward Tyrone Haughton, because Ellington will once again be on a football scholarship. It’ll be interesting to see how heavily his staff targets junior college players. Martin extensively recruited junior college players during his time at Kansas State, and each member of his staff has connections in the junior college ranks.
Here’s what Martin had to say today when asked about the possibility of Harris and/or Gill deciding to transfer ...
“We’ve spoken,” he said. “They obviously are trying to figure out who I am and what we’re about. Their families are inquiring. I’ve got conversations here today with their families and face-to-face meetings with their families. Once we get past the next four or five days, I should have more clarity with those two and other guys in our program.”
He knew he was going to have to deal with these issues.
“That happens any time there’s a coaching change around the country,” he said. “At K-State, Bruce (Weber, who replaced Martin) is dealing with that one as we speak. Those kids signed up to play for Darrin and the University of South Carolina. I don’t take that as a negative. Never have. Never will. We went through it when we got to K-State six years ago. I didn’t recruit these kids to South Carolina or any other school. It’s my job here for the next week, two weeks, three weeks to earn their trust, to introduce myself and our staff to their families, so they can know who we are, what we’re about and what our objectives and goals and ideas are, and make sure it fits what they need.
“I’m a big believer that everybody – me, the players, the staff, the administration – everybody has to be fully invested. Everyone has to have both feet in the circle for this to succeed. And then collectively, we can make this work. It’s my job to answer questions to those families the way I do every other year in recruiting. You have these conversations (during recruiting) and people decide from School A, B, C and D, whoever they feel the most comfortable with and they trust the most, that’s who they go to. That’s my charge here for the next couple weeks, is to put my arm around not just the two players you asked (about), but every member of our basketball team and make sure that they fully understand what we’re about, our direction, our mission, that their families ask us questions, so everyone’s comfortable with the plan and our mission.”
Martin is also recruiting to build for the future, while trying to get an idea about what he has to work with among the current players. He is good friends with two Southeastern Conference coaches: Alabama’s Anthony Grant, who he grew up with in Miami, and Mississippi’s Andy Kennedy, who he worked with (and for) at Cincinnati.
College basketball’s recruiting calendar changed last fall, when the NCAA decided to once again let coaches evaluate players at summer league and AAU events in April.
So starting tomorrow and running through April 18, coaches can contact recruits, except for April 9-12. That’ll be an important time for Martin’s staff. Then, the evaluation periods this month are on April 20-22 and April 27-29. The July evaluation period, once a brutal grind for coaches, has been trimmed to July 11-15, 18-22 and 25-29.
In terms of recruiting, Martin said, “We’re trying to put our arms around the folks here in the state first. That’s first and foremost and the most important thing. And then I’ve got to get a feel for our team. Our staff has been recruiting guys all year, and everyone is aware that we’re here now. Those conversations have already gotten a little deeper. Now, who we decide to offer scholarships to, it’s too soon for me to answer that question, because I don’t have a feel for our players here. We’re going to work them out today for the first time. And then we’re going to work them out two more times this week.
“I know what other people have told me (about USC’s players), and I’m going to keep that private. I know what other coaches in this league have told me. I don’t make decisions on what other people say, because there might be a guy here that someone out there says is real talented, but if that guy doesn’t have both feet in, he and I aren’t going to get along, so it’s not going to work. Yet there might be a kid that people on the outside say, ‘He’s not very good.’ But if that guy’s both feet are in, we’ll get it done. So I’ve got to figure that one out here first.”
Kansas State’s top commitment for 2012, 7-foot Robert Upshaw, has backed out of that commitment, but will not follow Martin to USC, according to what members of his family told ESPN.com. Upshaw, the No. 8 center and No. 43 overall recruit in the Class of 2012, never signed a letter of intent with Kansas State, so he isn’t bound to the school.
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