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OMAHA, Neb. -- If you ranked the coaches 1-8 at this Midwest Region first-round site, Frank Martin might finish in the bottom two. That, of course, is a compliment, considering that last year at this time Frank Martin wasn't in the top 328.
That's the number of Division I teams, none of which had thought of hiring Martin until Kansas State was desperate last April. Desperate to hold together a recruiting class, desperate to keep the momentum that Bob Huggins had started, the school gave Martin a battlefield promotion.
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| The big wigs at Kansas State can relax for now. The Frank Martin regime is a success so far. (Getty Images) |
"Oh, he'll get a raise," promised K-State fan boy/president Jon Wefald.
K-State's 80-67 victory over Southern California is the kind of result that gets a coach more than a raise. It gets you the good tables at fine restaurants. It gets fawning assistants from Backwater State asking for a job at the coaches convention. It might even set you up for life if you play it right.
Even if it all crashes and burns next season, Martin can cash this campaign into a paycheck somewhere.
This was Kansas State's first tournament in 12 years, first tournament win in 20 years. In the celebrated, prime-time battle of freshman, a rookie coach stole the show.
"I just listen to coach," said Michael Beasley, who contributed his 27th double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. "He's a very smart guy."
Available? Yes. Capable? Sure. Smart? That's about the first time anyone has used that word about Martin. For 16 years Martin was a sometimes controversial high school coach. In 1998, his Miami (Fla.) High School was ruled to have violated the state association's recruiting policy. At least five players, the association said, received extra benefits. Martin was never implicated in the wrongdoing but was fired from his job.
Wefald signed off on him in April, promoting an unproven college coach, putting him in charge of a fragile program, mostly just to keep two freshmen superstars –- Beasley and Bill Walker -- from leaving.
Talk about the blue chips running the asylum. If it worked, great. If it didn't, Wefald might have set his program back a decade. Now?
"We're doing things people in Hollywood do," Wefald gushed.
Fitting because the people from Hollywood looked like the softies. The USC Trojans seemed like they hadn't played in the tournament in 12 years. In truth, they had gone to the Sweet 16 last year. Freshman O.J. Mayo came there for a one-and-done season because, citing the success of Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush in football, "the school is ready for a player of my caliber."
